Yesterday's Memories
by Cherry Whisper
Summary: Kaoru is content with her home in Tokyo until a white-haired man steps into her life one rainy day. What's more suprising is that she learns that she's been engaged to him since childhood. (EnishiKaoru)
1. The Innocence of a Child

Yesterday's Memories  
  
Chapter One: The Innocence of a Child  
  
He watched the man snake his arms around his sister's waist from behind. She gave him a mock look of protest, which later dissolved into a smile when the man pulled her closer to his chest. He saw her whisper something into her ear, producing a faint blush to her cheeks and another smile on her lips.  
  
There was no denying it: he HATED him. Whenever nee-san was around him, she acted different. She let him play with her hair, let him hold her in his arms...and she actually smiled for him. Nee-san didn't smile for ANYONE, only for him and that bastard.  
  
He was taking away his nee-san from him. He was trying to steal her.  
  
Well, he wasn't going to let him. Not when his happiness was at stake.  
  
He stepped into the room, an innocent expression gracing his adorable features. "Nee-san?"  
  
Upon hearing the small voice, Tomoe reluctantly stepped out of her fiancé's embrace. "What is it, Enishi-kun?"  
  
"I thought that we were going to the park today," he sweetly said. "You promised."  
  
"Yes, I did," Tomoe replied, smiling at her younger brother. Enishi was instantly warmed by the sight.  
  
Her smile was for HIM this time, and not for that horrid man.  
  
"Well, I guess I better get going," the bastard said jovially.  
  
Nee-san looked regretfully at her fiancé. "I'm sorry, Akira."  
  
He shook his head, giving her a lighthearted smile. "It isn't a problem at all."  
  
Enishi kept his anger in check when he saw the man lean over and kiss his sister on the cheek. Then the bastard smiled at him and kneeled to his height.  
  
"Have fun today, Enishi-kun," he cheerfully told him, and patted his unruly black hair. He felt like biting down on his fingers, but he knew that nee-san wouldn't want him to do that.  
  
Tomoe watched her fiancé as he left through the front door, and then she looked at him again.  
  
"Are you ready, Enishi-kun?"  
  
He smiled and bobbed his head up and down in a nod, making her smile at the charming little boy.  
  
* * * *  
  
Perfect. It was all so very perfect.  
  
The sky was blue and cloudless, the bright sun beaming down from above. The breath of spring rode on the air and clung to him, but it didn't compare to the sweet scent of the white plum perfume that nee-san had worn. His happiness came out in the form of laughter as he dodged left and right, evading his sister from catching him. They were playing tag, and Enishi was simple too fast for the older girl to catch.  
  
"Nee-san, you have to be quicker!" He teased her, moving in zigzags that left his helpless sister in his dust.  
  
"Enishi-kun, don't wander too far!"  
  
The words of caution fell on deaf ears as Enishi sprinted away, mischievously grinning to himself. The world went by him in a distorted blur, his sneakers making a path through the cool green grass. His heart was beating rapidly and the soles of his feet were beginning to sore, but it didn't matter. He was too happy to care.  
  
He spotted a few bushes, and he decided to rest there. It was only fair to wait and let his sister catch up with him.  
  
Enishi ran behind the bushes and stopped, resting the palms of his hands on his knees. This was a great hiding spot. Nee-san would be so surprised when he comes out from the bushes to scare her.  
  
He suppressed an impish laugh at the thought. When he caught his breath, he stood back up and was about to get ready to surprise Tomoe.  
  
But there, underneath the shade of a blooming cherry tree, was something that left him breathless.  
  
Leaning against the trunk, he saw the small form of a girl huddled on the grass with a bokken at her side. Raven black hair was sprawled around a cherubic face, and bangs were parted above a pair of closed eyes. Delicate blossoms fell soundlessly about her, some of the light pink petals adorning her glossy black hair.  
  
She looked more like the fairies from the stories that nee-san had told him. She was far too beautiful to be of this earth.  
  
Without knowing it, Enishi was walking over to her. Shaky hands reached out to touch a smooth, round face. He winced when he had seen the dried trails of tears that stained the pale cheeks. A stray lock of hair fell against her face, but he brushed it away.  
  
As she slept, he found himself wanting her to open her eyes. He wanted to see what color they were. Perhaps brown? Or were they the same shade of crimson as Tomoe's were?  
  
A soft mumble passed her lips, and to his delight, her eyes began to open. Pools of crystal blue peered at him in a daze from underneath long sable lashes. She blinked a few times, and they suddenly widened considerably and a look of shock crossed the once serene face.  
  
Grabbing the bokken, she swung it at the strange boy and sent him reeling back. Enishi let out a surprised cry as he landed on the grass. The spell was broken once he saw the little girl standing there in a defensive position, wielding her weapon.  
  
He gritted his teeth as his hand nursed the bump that was forming on his head. The girl might look like an angel, but she certainly didn't act like one.  
  
"Who are you?!" she demanded to know, her eyes glaring at him with suspicion.  
  
Usually, he would've ripped anyone limb from limb had they the nerve to attack him. But he decided to make an exception for her.  
  
"Why do you want to know?" he replied smartly, getting back up on his feet.  
  
The girl couldn't come up with an answer, but her grip tightened around the hilt of her bokken. Enishi could only grin at how amusing her temper was, but then his eyes fell on an object on the grass. The girl had noticed and followed the direction of his gaze, and her anger drained from her face when she had seen it.  
  
Glistening in the sunlight, a long string of jade beads rested in the grass. He approached them and knelt down, his hand scooping them up.  
  
He looked at the beads, and then back to the girl. He saw the straps of a knapsack slung over her tiny shoulders. She recoiled as he walked closer to her, but she remained still.  
  
Enishi extended his hand to her and held the trinket in front of her. Hesitating a bit, she took it from his hands, her fingers entwining themselves around the jade beads while the bokken lowered at her side.  
  
"Thank you," she spoke, hugging the beads to her chest.  
  
Feeling as if the full wrath of her temper had passed, Enishi felt that it was safe to ask. "What's your name?"  
  
Chin tilted upwards, a pair of blue eyes glistened softly as she gave him a small smile. "Kaoru."  
  
Rustling was heard behind them, and Enishi peered from the corners of his eyes to meet an exhausted Tomoe.  
  
"Enishi-kun, didn't I tell you not to wander too far?"  
  
"Sorry, nee-san," he replied. Despite her stern look, Enishi knew that Tomoe couldn't stay angry at him for long.  
  
She sighed and walked towards him. "Come, it's getting dark—" Her voice trailed off upon seeing the girl that was standing behind her little brother.  
  
"And who is this?" she asked in a gentle tone, as not to startle the child.  
  
"Her name is Kaoru," Enishi answered. "I found her sleeping here."  
  
"Sleeping at a place like this?" Tomoe inquired and loomed toward the girl, and crouching down so that her eyes were at her level. "What would you be doing here all by yourself, little one?"  
  
The girl shifted her gaze downwards so that she would not meet the amiable stare of the beautiful young woman before her.  
  
"Don't be afraid," Tomoe coaxed. "You can tell me."  
  
"...I'm...I'm lost..." she replied in an almost inaudible mumble.  
  
An expression of sympathy quickly turned into a reassuring smile as Tomoe placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "It's all right," she comforted her. "Are you trying to find someone? Your parents, perhaps?"  
  
Enishi noticed the way the girl flinched at the word 'parents', but he made no comment. He was sure that his sister had caught it as well.  
  
"...they're not here," Kaoru timidly answered.  
  
Minutes passed by in silence, and Tomoe realized that she wasn't going to get any more helpful answers from the girl. By the weary look on her face and the stains and the snags of the gi and hakama she wore, the poor creature looked like she needed some rest.  
  
Starlight began to descend upon them. Tomoe knew that the darkness of night could easily make a victim out of a little girl such as the one before her. A bokken wasn't reliable against the sharp blade of a sword or a knife. Or in the worse case scenario, a gun.  
  
She had no choice but to take her with her and Enishi.  
  
"Let's go," Tomoe spoke, holding out her hand to the girl. "You're coming with us."  
  
* * * *  
  
Typically, he wouldn't let anyone get close to his nee-san. It was difficult enough to keep himself from attacking Akira whenever he was around her. Whenever she showered her attention on someone other than him, Enishi wanted nothing more than to rip that person limb from limb. That was why he was always by his sister's side, to make sure that no one would take her away from him.  
  
But for some reason, Enishi didn't mind Tomoe taking care of the girl. Of course, he felt a slight tinge of jealously, but it quickly disappeared when he had seen how sorrowful her eyes were. Although she had yet to speak about where she came from or her family, Enishi knew something was bothering her.  
  
And the girl was too stubborn to tell either him or Tomoe.  
  
Nee-san was kind enough to offer to wash the girl's dirty gi and hakama, and she gratefully complied. Enishi even agreed to let the child wear one of the yukatas that he had outgrown.  
  
"Enishi-kun?"  
  
He turned his head toward his sister, who was busy stirring a pot of simmering stew.  
  
"Could you check on Kaoru-san and tell her that dinner's almost ready?"  
  
Enishi nodded and slipped off the chair he was sitting on. He could never disobey an order from his older sister. He left the kitchen and walked up the majestic staircase in the front foyer that led him to the second story of the Yukishiro mansion.  
  
He was about to step into the guestroom that Tomoe had prepared for her, but he stopped.  
  
Sniffling was heard on the other side. The girl was crying.  
  
Curious, he peeked into the room, hiding behind the slightly open door. Enishi saw the girl sitting on the bed and staring out into the night sky from the windowpane. Her milky skin was clean and her hair was still a bit wet from the bath Tomoe had drawn for her, but she still looked miserable. Encircled around her little fingers were the jade beads he had picked up for her earlier.  
  
The girl placed a tiny palm against the surface of the window, tightening her grip around the beads. "...Mommy..."  
  
It was almost inaudible, but he could hear the sadness in her voice as she wept.  
  
He spent another few minutes at the door listening to her crying. Each sob and each whimper tore at him, which both irritated and confused him. Why should he care about this girl he barely knew? What would it matter to him that she was undergoing some emotional turmoil? He SHOULD be angry at her for taking up so much of nee-san's time, he should be mad at lending her one of his old yukatas...  
  
...but he wasn't. Even if he wanted to be mad, it was impossible for him to feel that way towards the girl.  
  
Deciding that he had to do something else than stand at the door, he pushed it open and stepped inside of the room.  
  
"Hey," he called to her, and the girl's shoulders stiffened at his voice. "Dinner's ready."  
  
He heard a slight hiccup as she cleaned her face with the sleeve of his yukata, wiping off the freshly fallen tears.  
  
"...why are you crying?"  
  
"I'm not!" she indignantly protested, her cheeks flustered.  
  
"You're lying," he pointed out the obvious.  
  
She sniffled again and tried to put on her bravest face. "N-no, I'm not."  
  
"Then why are your eyes red?"  
  
Kaoru gasped and rubbed her eyes with the oversized sleeves of the yukata she wore. But as hard as she tried, more tears only came forth.  
  
Enishi felt guilty when he had seen that he only succeeded in making her crying worse, but he was astonished by her. She was trying to hold onto what courage she had left instead of succumbing entirely to her grief. Little girls weren't supposed to be like that. They were supposed to act modest, quiet, frail...  
  
This one was nothing like that. Oh, she was frail, but instead of being reserved about it, she was attempting to hide it by being brave.  
  
Despite the tears that fell, she was trying not to cry. She was trying to be strong.  
  
He sat next to her on the bed, but her face remained buried in the sleeves of the yukata. As gently as he could, he brushed his fingers across her cheek. At the soft touch, the girl slowly removed her hands from her face.  
  
A warm tear trickled down his hand, but he didn't mind. Instead, he brushed back a wet strand of hair from the girl's cheek.  
  
"You know..." he began in a whisper that only she could hear. "You're really different."  
  
He didn't mean anything offensive by the words, and the girl knew that by the unusually gentle tone that he said them in. Although her cheeks were red from crying and her eyes were a bit puffy, she was pure emotion wrapped in a tiny little body.  
  
Trying to find the right words to comfort her, he said, "You don't have to stop. You...you can cry, if you want to."  
  
Another whimper ripped through the girl's throat, and Enishi thought that he had only made things worse. But all doubt washed away when he felt delicate arms wrapping tightly around his waist and a face burying itself against his chest. Stunned, he allowed the girl to cry into his shirt, the fabric soaking with her tears.  
  
He had often sought his sister's arms for comfort. During those times, he was the one that needed her. But now, HE was the one that was needed. Through her action, this child had looked to him for assurance. She had given him her trust, even though she didn't know who he was.  
  
The surprise slowly subsiding, a compassionate smile lifted the corners of his mouth. Enishi silently wrapped his own arms around her shivering figure as she bawled into his arms.  
  
* * * *  
  
Tomoe didn't know whether to be shocked or relieved. Never has her brother displayed concern for anyone else other than herself. It was too baffling beyond anything that she had ever seen. Usually, her brother would keep himself away from other people, whether they were adults or children like him. He wasn't a boy who would bother himself about the troubles of others.  
  
But that girl had changed him.  
  
Kaoru had been staying at the mansion for a little over a week now. And she was constantly at Enishi's side. Tomoe would always see them sharing meals, playing in the courtyard, or reading quietly together. She thought it was an adorable sight during such activities. It was quite sweet to see the confusion on little Kaoru's face as she tried to read along with Enishi, who would often had to explain the text to her. Her brother wasn't one to be patient with others, but for Kaoru, he didn't mind. In fact, he seemed to enjoy helping her.  
  
Tomoe was happy that her brother had made a close friend, but there was something that had troubled her as well. She couldn't help but notice how protective Enishi was of the girl. As expected, he trusted Tomoe with her, but he was quick to snap at servants who tried to attend to Kaoru. He had shown that same hostility to Akira when he tried to say hello to the girl, pushing Kaoru behind him when the man approached. Of course, Akira didn't mind, being the easygoing person he was, but the defensive way that Enishi treated the girl still pained Tomoe to some extent.  
  
"Cute, aren't they?" Akira broke her reverie, taking a seat next to her.  
  
She knew who he was referring to and her eyes caught sight of the two children. They were holding hands and strolling through the gardens. Tomoe smiled when she saw Kaoru's blue eyes light up at a full-bloomed peony, and Enishi promptly plucked it from its bush and handed it to her. Kaoru smiled and thankfully took it, gingerly holding the stem in her fingers as they continued to walk hand-in-hand.  
  
"He's so attached to her..." Tomoe said.  
  
Akira noticed the solemn tone in her voice, and he grinned. "What, are you jealous?"  
  
Tomoe chuckled and shook her head. "No, of course not. It's just that..."  
  
Her delicate brow knitted together, her fingers entwining themselves and settling onto her lap. "Someone will come looking for Kaoru-san, and they will eventually find her here. I don't know how Enishi will take it. From watching them together, he acts like he's her guardian."  
  
"Come now, Tomoe. Enishi is just protecting his little girlfriend."  
  
"That's the problem, Akira," Tomoe protested. "He's TOO protective of her. I can already see him locking himself up in his room when Kaoru's family takes her back. He'll be heartbroken."  
  
Akira placed a hand over his fiancé's. "Maybe, but look at them Tomoe."  
  
She did as he told her and spotted them together underneath the shade of one of the white plum trees. A colorful butterfly had settled itself in Kaoru's palms with a content Enishi smiling down at the giggling girl.  
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that Enishi is in love for the first time," Akira mused. "I know that your brother will probably be anything but pleased when Kaoru leaves, but for now, they're happy. And that's all that matters."  
  
Tomoe was silent, but she squeezed her future husband's hand. "I understand, Akira."  
  
A bittersweet smile spread across her lips when she saw her brother holding Kaoru in a comforting hug while the little girl watched the butterfly float away.  
  
"...I'll let him be happier for a little longer."  
  
* * * *  
  
Enishi breathed in the raven black hair that he had loved to play with as the girl slept peacefully in his arms. He held back a laugh when she snored a bit and mumbled something in her sleep. Noticing that she was shivering, he pulled the blanket over her. Careful not to wake her, he swept away the long bangs from her closed eyelids so that he would be able to see her face better.  
  
She looked like an angel in her sleep. His angel, he thought, slightly tightening his arms around her. But he was cautious not to harm her. The thought of hurting her was horrible to Enishi, but he brushed it aside and instead contemplated how peaceful Kaoru looked when she dreamt.  
  
"Enishi-kun?" a soft voice beckoned him from the darkness. "Can I come in?"  
  
He nodded and Tomoe quietly made her way across the room to the bed that Enishi and Kaoru were resting on. Normally, it was looked down upon for a boy to share a room with a girl, but the innocence of the situation abolished all suspicion.  
  
"Is she asleep?"  
  
Enishi nodded once more. "Yeah. She's really tired."  
  
"I can see that," Tomoe answered. "Kaoru-san is a very cute little girl."  
  
"She's pretty," Enishi looked at his sister and smiled warmly. "Just like nee-san."  
  
"Kaoru-chan will be a beautiful wife."  
  
Tomoe nearly paled at the last words that her brother spoke. She gawked at him in surprise as if she had heard him wrong, but Enishi didn't notice. He just smiled down at the girl in his arms, his chin resting on top of her head.  
  
"...Enishi-kun, what did you say?" she asked, dreading that she already knew how he was going to answer.  
  
"I said Kaoru-chan will be a beautiful wife," he repeated happily. "When we get older, I'm going to marry her."  
  
What he said filled her with dismay. Tomoe knew realistically that Enishi couldn't have Kaoru as a wife. First of all, someone would come to their mansion to take her home, and she doubted that Enishi would ever see Kaoru again. Second, their father was also an obstacle. The Yukishiros were a distinguished clan that was treated like royalty in Japan and the rest of the world beyond it. It wasn't likely that their father would allow such a union to take place when he probably already planned to arrange a marriage between Enishi and another member of a respected, wealthy family.  
  
"Nee-san?"  
  
Tomoe was brought back from her troubled thoughts by Enishi's hopeful voice.  
  
"You'll treat Kaoru-chan as a sister, right? After she's married into our family?"  
  
She was about to object, but found that she couldn't. The blissful smile on her brother's face had sent her resolve crumbling into a heap.  
  
She couldn't bring herself to take away that smile. Tomoe loved him too much.  
  
Collecting herself, Tomoe ruffled her hand through his wild hair. "I already think of her as a little sister, Enishi-kun."  
  
* * * *  
  
Enishi mumbled angrily, his fingers leafing through the pages of a textbook. He hated doing homework, especially math. If it were up to him, he would ditch all of his papers and books into the trash and think nothing of it, but with his sister's expectations, he had no choice but to at least make an effort.  
  
He was calculating a particularly difficult problem when suddenly the numbers and complicated formulas disappeared in an instant. He couldn't see, but he heard the familiar giggling.  
  
"Guess who!"  
  
Smirking, he allowed himself to go along with the game. "I don't know."  
  
"You have to guess!" the little voice complained cutely.  
  
"Let's see..." He tapped his pencil as if he were in deep thought. "...Kaoru-chan."  
  
A pout was heard and suddenly his vision was back. He turned around and saw Kaoru with her hands bunched up into fists. She gave him her best mock glare, but a smile was on her lips.  
  
"You always know it's me," she whined.  
  
He grinned. "Of course. I know Kaoru-chan's voice too well."  
  
She smiled again and took Enishi's hand in an effort to pull him away from his math book. "Enishi-kun, let's play in the garden!"  
  
It was impossible to say 'no' to her. Enishi was about to leave his unfinished homework, when his sister suddenly entered the living room.  
  
"Enishi-kun..." she spoke, sorrow tingeing her usually composed voice. "We have a visitor."  
  
He caught the trouble in her words, and immediately Enishi grew concerned. "Who is it, nee-san?"  
  
His sister looked to her left and gestured their guest to come. A young man with parted black hair stepped into the room. He wore a black school uniform of a distinguished private school, but his ice blue eyes appeared like they had a wisdom beyond his years.  
  
Enishi heard Kaoru let out a small gasp. "...Aoshi...kun?"  
  
The teenager regarded her with a solemn look. "I've finally found you."  
  
Enishi immediately disliked the boy and took Kaoru by the hand. He shielded her by stepping in front of her, glaring coldly at the stranger.  
  
Aoshi raised a brow, but his blank expression did not falter.  
  
"What do you want?" the boy hissed, keeping Kaoru behind him.  
  
"Enishi-kun," Tomoe began tentatively. "This is Shinomori Aoshi. He's Kaoru-san's cousin."  
  
The realization dawned on him, and a look of abhorrence and fury distorted the boy's usually calm features. "No..."  
  
"Aoshi-san has come to take Kaoru-san back to her family."  
  
"...nee-san, what are you talking about?" the bewilderment in her brother's words nearly brought tears to Tomoe's eyes. "Kaoru-chan is staying with us."  
  
"Enishi-kun..."  
  
"She's staying with us!" he cried, too frustrated to even realize that he had raised his voice at his sister for the first time. Even Tomoe was too shocked to reply.  
  
"I'm sorry, but we don't have any time for this," Aoshi interrupted the drama that was occurring in the room. "Kaoru."  
  
The girl's shoulders straightened when her cousin spoke her name.  
  
"What you've done is very irresponsible. It was reckless of you to run away from home for nearly two weeks."  
  
Kaoru's head was bent low, and Enishi knew that the teenager's words affected her heavily. He wrapped his arms protectively around her as if he was trying to shield her from her cruel cousin.  
  
"Do you realize what you did? Sano is still running around the place looking for you. And your father's at home worried sick—"  
  
"No, he's not!" the girl explained, shaking with emotion. "He doesn't care about me, he never did!"  
  
"That's not true—"  
  
"Yes it is!" Kaoru exclaimed. "Ever since Mommy died, he acts like nothing happened! It's like he doesn't care that she's gone!"  
  
A look of sorrow crossed the teenager's handsome face. "Kaoru...you're being unreasonable. Your father is trying to be strong."  
  
Enishi pulled Kaoru closer to him when her eyes began to glisten with tears she was trying hard not to shed.  
  
"Do you know why he works so hard? He promised your mother that he would take care of you no matter what. He spends so much time at his job for you."  
  
Aoshi approached her, but Enishi still held the crying girl.  
  
"Do you know what he's doing now? He's practically sick at home because he's so worried about you. The only thing keeping him from looking for you is his fever."  
  
She almost jumped at the news like she had been struck.  
  
"Kaoru, your father loved your mother very much. And no matter what you may believe, he loves you, too."  
  
The tears suddenly trailed down her cheeks and Kaoru began sobbing into Enishi's arms. He could only watch helplessly, holding her as Tomoe watched from a distance and Aoshi looked on wordlessly.  
  
It was then that he had known. Kaoru wasn't staying with him.  
  
* * * *  
  
Enishi was silent while Kaoru packed what few belongings she had brought with her in her knapsack. He still couldn't believe that the girl that he had wanted to marry was leaving. When she stepped into his life, it was like she had lived with him all along.  
  
He knew that he was young, but he didn't have to be an adult to know that he was in love.  
  
After buckling her knapsack, Kaoru slung it over her shoulders and stood before Enishi. Her eyes locked with his, struggling with the words that she wanted to say.  
  
"Enishi-kun," she said. "I want to give you something."  
  
Her hand opened to reveal the jade beads that she had treasured. She began wounding them around his wrist, and putting on her best smile, she said, "These were my mommy's prayer beads. They always made me happy when I was alone."  
  
If he wasn't in grief, he would've thrown them back at her. Couldn't she see that it wasn't prayer beads that he wanted?  
  
Sensing his indifference, the smile was replaced by a frown. "...are you angry with me, Enishi-kun?"  
  
He adamantly hung on to his resentment, but his attempts were quickly failing when he saw the newly formed tears.  
  
"...do you...hate me?"  
  
In response, he pulled the girl into a tenacious hug. Automatically, Kaoru clung to him like she had done on the night that she arrived at the Yukishiro estate.  
  
"I could never hate Kaoru-chan," he told her truthfully.  
  
"Enishi-kun, I'm sorry!" the girl said through heavy sobs. "I don't want to leave...I really don't. I want to stay with you!"  
  
The words both stung him and eased him, and Enishi stroked her hair soothingly.  
  
"Daddy is sick, and I have to go back and take care of him," Kaoru hiccupped. "But I don't want to go...I want to be with you...!"  
  
A light flashed on in his head. Stepping back from their embrace, Enishi went to his desk and searched inside the drawers. After a few seconds, he found what he was looking for and went back to Kaoru.  
  
"Kaoru-chan...if you really want to be with me, then there's a way that we can be together."  
  
Kaoru wiped her eyes and listened, encouraging Enishi to go on.  
  
"Give me your hand," he gently commanded, and Kaoru did as he told. He slipped a ring onto her dainty finger, the cool metal fitting a bit loosely around her skin.  
  
"I made it for you," he explained. "I promise that I'll get you something better, but for now it's your engagement ring."  
  
"...engagement?"  
  
"Uh-huh," Enishi grinned joyously. "Nee-san says that when two people are engaged, it means that they're going to become husband and wife soon."  
  
He took her hand into his, gazing into the crystal blue depths. "I want Kaoru-chan to be my wife. I want to be with you."  
  
Enishi cupped her cheek with his hand, causing her to blush.  
  
"Do I make you happy? Do you want to be my wife, Kaoru-chan?"  
  
A smile lit up her adorable face and Kaoru affectionately hugged the taller boy. "Of course I do, Enishi-kun! I want to be with you more than anything else."  
  
Afterward, the two said nothing else, enjoying the comfort of their embrace.  
  
* * * *  
  
It was painful letting her go. It took every bit of his control as she crawled into the limousine with her cousin and watch it drive away with his Kaoru-chan in the backseat.  
  
For now, he wouldn't be able to see her. But that would all change later.  
  
Nee-san told him that when two people are engaged, they make a promise that they would give their hearts and being to one another. They are always linked to one another, no matter where they were. He knew that this was true of Kaoru and him. Even though she was gone, there were still traces of her presence that would never leave him.  
  
Sitting on the bed that they would share, he cradled the yukata that she had slept in during her stay. Her scent still lingered on the cloth, and he could've sworn that he could still feel her warmth as he held it.  
  
He despised her cousin for taking her away, and a little part of him was angry at nee-san for allowing Kaoru to leave. But those feelings would subside soon enough.  
  
All that mattered was his plans. Enishi would grow strong so he would be able to protect Kaoru. He would become the head of his family so that he could give her everything that she could ever dream of.  
  
As far as he was concerned, Kaoru was engaged to him. And he wasn't going to give her up.  
  
He would see her again someday. And then, he would ask her to marry him.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
God...it's almost three in the morning. Inspiration can hit at the funniest times, don't you think? If Enishi sounds obsessive to you, I'm sorry if it freaks some of you out. I didn't mean for him to be that way: I just wanted to keep him in character and act like a child would in his place. I'm still trying to keep some of the characters in check. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Your feedback is always helpful ^_^  
  
Happy Easter! 


	2. What the Rain Brings

Yesterday's Memories  
  
Chapter Two: What the Rain Brings  
  
Her footsteps were soft and unhurried, a change from the usual, hasty way she walked. When she had reached the final step, her hand pushed the cold surface of the door and her vision was immediately flooded with the crimson light of the rising sun. Shielding her eyes, she stepped onto the roof and into the morning light. Long raven hair cascaded all the way down her back, the wind combing through it delicately. Milky white skin shuddered slightly from the cool air, as vibrant blue eyes watched while the light of dawn slowly seeped into the metropolis before them.  
  
Kamiya Kaoru drew in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. The air was heavy with the promise of rain. Perhaps it would be a smart thing to move her flowers inside. She spent too much time taking care of them to let them drown in rainwater or be blown off the roof by the high winds.  
  
She set out to work and walked over to one of the clay pots. A large bush was emerging from the rich soil, blossoms sleeping among the green leaves that sprouted from the branches. Kaoru smiled and she gently held one of the blossoms between two of her slender fingers. They would bloom into beautiful pink peonies when the morning would pass. For some reason, Kaoru had a special liking to these particular flowers. Looking at them brought a sense of peace in her heart that she rarely had the time to experience.  
  
"JOU-CHAN, WHERE'S THE MILK?!?"  
  
The tranquility of the morning shattered upon the sound of the cranky voice, Kaoru sighed and took the clay pot into her hands.  
  
The day had officially begun.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Good morning, class," Kaoru greeted, setting aside her lesson plan on her table.  
  
A string of incoherent grumbles was her answer.  
  
"Well it's nice to see you all too," she retorted dryly.  
  
Even if they were all just teenagers, Kaoru's students looked more like corpses that had just risen from their graves and entered into the world of the living.  
  
"If you would all please take out last night's homework and pass it up."  
  
The students shuffled through their bags and knapsacks to find the assignment that was to be done for today. Some of Kaoru's better students only had to take a few seconds to find theirs, whereas some of her other ones were frantically looking through their bags, praying that they had done it.  
  
After a few more minutes, Kaoru collected the assignments, finished and unfinished, and put them in a stack on her desk. "Please take out your textbooks."  
  
More rummaging and more mumbles as Kaoru surveyed the class. Looking at each solemn and exhausted face made her want the final bell to ring sooner. She spotted the clock at her wall, and mentally cursed when the hands read twenty minutes after eight.  
  
Suddenly, snickering was heard from the far corner of the room, bringing Kaoru's attention. Two of her male students were looking over the shoulders of one other one, the latter holding up a textbook. The perverse looks and smirks of the three boys caused her to quirk an eyebrow in suspicion.  
  
She had never seen three adolescent males look THAT entertained from reading literature.  
  
"Oh man, where'd you find this?" one of the boys asked, wiping the drool that was forming at the left corner of his mouth.  
  
"My brother's room," the middle one declared proudly declared. "He keeps a collection in a box under his bed."  
  
"Awesome!" the boy on his other side beamed. "Hey, can we see the rest after school?"  
  
The middle boy grinned. "Of course, just come over my house—"  
  
All three teenagers leapt as a meter stick slammed itself onto the middle of the textbook. They looked on helplessly as their teacher glared down at the smut-filled magazine that she had pinned under the meter stick clutched in her right hand. Her lips were drawn downward in a disapproving scowl, and her anger couldn't hide the look of disgust on her youthful face.  
  
"Perhaps one of you can tell me since when did classic Japanese haikus include pictures of nude women and condom advertisements?" She asked in a voice that was eerily calm.  
  
The boys could only answer in petrified squeaks while their literature teacher glowered dangerously at them.  
  
"Detention for two hours. I expect to see all three of you right after school. If one of you happens to be missing," she shot each of them a threatening glare. "I WILL find you."  
  
Three heads nodded furiously in unison, and they sunk pathetically into their seats. The rest of the class watched their brazen teacher walk to the front of the room. She placed the meter stick onto her desk, and when she had turned around she had a textbook in her hand and was wearing a composed smile.  
  
"Now then, do I have a volunteer to begin reading?"  
  
* * * *  
"Hey, Jou-chan."  
  
Kaoru's hand stopped marking grades on test papers when her tall, lanky neighbor stood at her door, gravity-defying hair and all.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked irritably. "I thought you were at work."  
  
"I am," Sanosuke argued. "I'm on break."  
  
Kaoru threw him a look of disbelief.  
  
"...it's my mid-morning pre-lunch break." The brown-haired man concluded.  
  
"Really Sano," Kaoru began, her test papers and red pen forgotten. "You seriously need some work ethic. You're not really setting a good example for your little brother—"  
  
"Good morning, Kaoru-dono."  
  
Kaoru stopped in the middle of her lecture when she had heard the gentle, familiar voice. A thin, red-haired man stepped into her room, a friendly smile on his attractive face.  
  
"Kenshin..." the name passed her lips as she recovered from her shock.  
  
"Pretty boy here flew in not too long ago," Sano said, grinning at Kaoru's blushing face. "Found me and said that he wanted to see you."  
  
"I—" She began, but her sentence was cut short when her hand clumsily knocked over the mug of steaming hot tea from her desk and onto the floor. The mug shattered into countless pieces, and somehow, some of the tea had managed to stain her pants.  
  
Her face was entirely red as Sano held back his laughter. A worried Kenshin approached the mess and knelt down to pick up the pieces.  
  
"You don't have to do that!" Kaoru exclaimed, too embarrassed to do anything.  
  
Kenshin offered her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Kaoru-dono. I don't mind at all."  
  
He picked up the pieces and dropped them into the wastebasket. "Is your leg all right?"  
  
Kaoru nodded, avoiding making eye contact with the redhead.  
  
"I'll go look for some paper towels to clean the tea with." Kenshin politely said, and he left the room, leaving Sano and a humiliated Kaoru alone.  
  
A few seconds passed, and a hearty laugh erupted from Sano's throat, earning a fierce glare from Kaoru.  
  
"Jou-chan, you're a klutz!"  
  
"Shut up, Rooster-head," Kaoru angrily snapped and she buried her face into her hands.  
  
Since the day she had met Kenshin when she was in middle school, Kaoru always managed to make an idiot of herself in his presence. It was either a bad habit or a curse. She didn't know which one.  
  
"Ah, cheer up already!"  
  
"I always like such an idiot when I'm around him," she mumbled miserably from her hands.  
  
"It's no big deal," Sano said, patting her on the back with a calloused hand. "And besides, Kenshin said he'll be staying for a week or two."  
  
"Why should that make me happy?"  
  
Sano chuckled. "Because now you'll have more time to lay some of that girlish charm of yours on him."  
  
Kaoru lifted her face from her hands and blinked.  
  
"Y'know, use those feminine wiles that you women take so much pride in."  
  
She stared at Sano like he was talking in a different language.  
  
"C'mon, Jou-chan. Paint the town red? Wine and dine with him?"  
  
"...what?"  
  
Sano threw up his hands. "For the love of...ask him out on a date."  
  
Her eyes widened and pink tickled her cheeks. "No way, Sano!"  
  
He sighed in exasperation. "You can't keep doing this, Jou-chan. I'm so sick and tired of watching you pine for that guy and doing nothing about it."  
  
"I'm not 'pining' for anyone!" she cried, proceeding to grade papers again.  
  
"Could've fooled me," he retorted sarcastically.  
  
"Sano, I'm not going to ask him! Even if I did, he wouldn't want to."  
  
"You don't know that for sure, Jou-chan."  
  
"Yes I do, Rooster-head."  
  
"I don't think that you don't want to ask him out because you're shy," Sano said, smirking.  
  
Kaoru looked up at him from her papers. "What do you mean?"  
  
He pointed to her neck. Curious, her fingers reached for the ring that hung on the end of the thin silver chain that she wore.  
  
"...do you mean this?"  
  
"Not the ring itself. The person that gave it to you."  
  
Kaoru scoffed, her fingers still clasping the ring. "Sano, that's ridiculous."  
  
"Then why have you been wearing that thing since you were eight?"  
  
"Because I like it," Kaoru argued.  
  
"Jou-chan...it's a piece of metal."  
  
"That someone made for me!" she protested.  
  
"Don't lie," Sano continued with an evil grin on his face. "Aoshi told me about your little trip in Kyoto."  
  
She stared at him crossly, but was quiet.  
  
"You still have a crush on that kid you met."  
  
"Shut up, already!" she cried. "I don't have a crush on anybody!"  
  
"Why are your cheeks red, Jou-chan? It looks like you're blushing."  
  
"Quit it, Sano! Like you said, I was just eight years old!"  
  
"Don't be so serious," he said, deciding that he already teased her enough for one day. "I'm just kidding."  
  
She stuck out her tongue and went back to grading papers.  
  
"Oh, that's very mature." Sano said, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs in the front.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Stupid Rooster-head," Kaoru muttered out loud to herself after putting a daikon radish into her shopping cart. "Doesn't know what he's talking about."  
  
She was still irritated from the little argument she had with her neighbor before Kenshin was kind enough to step in with some paper towels. Whenever her romance life was brought up, Sano always found a perfect opportunity to bring up her little adventure in Kyoto. When her older cousin Aoshi had brought her back to Tokyo, he explained everything to her father, who then told Sano after he returned from searching for Kaoru. Even though the name of the woman who had watched her for two weeks had evaded her memory, Kaoru did remember that she was very kind and ladylike.  
  
Kaoru also remembered a tangled mass of dark hair and a pair of mischievous eyes. They had belonged to the boy who had made her the ring.  
  
Her fingers unconsciously wrapped around the small piece of jewelry that hung around her neck. Although she had forgotten why she was given the ring, she couldn't bring herself to throw it away. One of the reasons that she had kept it was because it was a gift. Kaoru was sure that she would've been upset if someone had discarded a present that she had handcrafted herself for them.  
  
Also, there was something about the ring that made her wear it on a silver chain when it had gotten too little for her ring finger and keep it for fourteen years. The scent of peonies and plum blossoms, the sound of a comforting voice, and memories of a hand guiding her were what she had thought about whenever she held the ring in her hands. All those things brought her a serenity that she had grown attached to. Her days were hectic as they were with her students and unexpected surprises; it was nice to have some semblance of peace, even if it came in the form of a ring she received when she was a little girl.  
  
Snapping out of her thoughts, she reached out for a carton of milk and placed it into her cart. Sano and Yahiko had a habit of using her milk for their cereal when theirs had been sitting in their fridge a few months after its expiration date.  
  
She wandered into another aisle and she caught sight of a box of green tea. She immediately snatched it off the shelf and strolled on over to one of the cashiers. After a day of teaching half-awake students, being teased by Sanosuke, and staying after school for two hours more to watch three perverted adolescent males wash the windows and desks in her classroom, Kaoru thought that a nice cup of tea was in order when she finally went home.  
  
After she had purchased her groceries, Kaoru carried the bags in her hands, but stopped at the automatic doors when she had looked outside.  
  
Kaoru thought that there would be a slight drizzle, but a downpour awaited her outside.  
  
Kaoru couldn't very well drive home because her ancient scrap of metal, otherwise known as a car, was in the shop getting fixed. Sano was actually working around this time, and Kenshin had disappeared around town somewhere.  
  
And the day that she knew it was going to rain, she had forgotten to bring an umbrella before she went to work.  
  
Oh, the irony of it all.  
  
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and the doors instantly parted for her.  
  
Kaoru felt that a warm bath would be best before drinking that cup of tea.  
  
* * * *  
  
His index finger pressed the button again, but he was still standing out in the rain.  
  
"Come on," he growled, pressing the button over and over again, hoping to hear a voice over the intercom.  
  
But nothing. There was no such voice, no annoying buzz that indicated that he could enter the building. Only the splatter of raindrops on the streets.  
  
This was what he had feared the most.  
  
Fatigued, he left the locked doors and settled himself on a nearby bench. The rain was relentless, pouring onto him in torrents. He was getting soaked, but he didn't care. He was numb to it all.  
  
He tried to reassure himself that he had written the address wrong. But a part of him was nagging that he was too careful to do that. He had memorized that address to the point that he had known each numerical digit and letter by heart. Perhaps the taxi driver made a mistake and dropped him at the wrong place.  
  
Or perhaps the address itself was wrong.  
  
He gritted his teeth, and his hands tugged at his white hair in frustration. It seemed so hopeless. Not only was he lost in a city he wasn't familiar with and practically submerged in the downpour, but the one person he wanted to see wasn't even there.  
  
"Where are you?" he asked, not caring that no one would answer him. He was then silent as the streetlights flickered on and off in the rain like dying flames.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Mou! Why did I have to forget my umbrella?" Kaoru chided herself, hurrying across the wet pavement before her groceries would be ruined.  
  
Finally, she could see her apartment through the heavy curtains of rain. Her steps a bit lighter, she resisted the urge to run and risk the chance of slipping on the slippery sidewalk.  
  
But then, a shock of white hair caught her attention. In the faint light of the malfunctioning street lamp in front of her apartment, she saw the slouching form of a man on a bench.  
  
"Is that an old man?" she asked herself and wasted no time rushing to the person's side.  
  
"Hey!" she addressed the man, fearing that something was wrong with him. "Are you okay?"  
  
He looked up, revealing a pair of brilliant turquoise eyes settled behind a pair of dark shades and a handsome face that showed no signs of aging.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were an old man!" she blurted out, still in shock of how young the man appeared to be.  
  
To her surprise, the man just looked at her with an expression that she could only describe as utter despair.  
  
'He looks so sad,' she thought. The man then looked away from her, his eyes seeking the wet streets in front of him.  
  
The raindrops slid down his skin and dripped from the tips of his hair. Kaoru worried that he was going to catch a cold if he stayed out here any longer.  
  
"Why are you out here in the rain?" she asked him.  
  
He was silent for a moment, but then he spoke in a barren voice. "I wanted to see someone, but she isn't here."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
The man said nothing more, and Kaoru couldn't help but feel sympathetic for him. She noticed a suitcase that stood by his feet, but she made no comment about it. He looked so lost and miserable in this rain.  
  
"She must be a special woman," she suddenly said without knowing it, but she smiled when he looked up at her again. "To have someone out here in a storm like this waiting for her."  
  
He gazed at her like he was hypnotized, but Kaoru felt better when a smile spread across his lips.  
  
"Yes, she is someone very special." He spoke.  
  
"I'm sure she's at work or something," Kaoru assured him. "In the meantime, it won't be—EEEEEK!!!!"  
  
She screamed when a clap of thunder ripped through the steady rainfall. Kaoru involuntarily dropped the bags full of two weeks' worth of groceries and clapped her hands on her ears. The white-haired man watched in amusement, but noticed the look of dismay on the girl's face when she had seen the bags sprawled on the sidewalk.  
  
"Sano's right. I AM a klutz," she admitted despondently and began to gather the groceries. The stranger was kind enough to help her, and was politely carrying a few bags in his own hands.  
  
"Thanks!" Kaoru beamed at him. "Anyway, if you want you can wait in my apartment. You'll drown out here if the rain keeps coming down like this."  
  
A bit drawn to her kindness for others and tempted by a dry room, the white-haired man agreed. He waited patiently with the grocery bags as Kaoru searched for her key and opened the door to the building. With the stranger following her, they climbed the seemingly endless flight of stairs to the third floor. Kaoru unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped in, the man behind her following suit.  
  
"Let me get those," she said and took the bags away from him. "Go ahead and sit on the couch. You can just leave your suitcase at the door."  
  
She hurried away with her groceries and into the kitchen, salvaging anything that wasn't soaked by the rain. Luckily, everything was relatively dry, and to her joy the box of green tea was saved. Setting water to boil in the kettle on the stove, she quickly left the kitchen to find a towel for her guest. After searching the linen closet she brought a cotton towel with her into the kitchen and turned off the stove. She brewed the tea and poured it into two mugs and returned to the living room.  
  
Just as she left him, the man was sitting on the comfort of her couch. She set the two mugs onto the coffee table and handed him the towel. Kaoru saw that he had removed his shades, his turquoise eyes more vivid than ever.  
  
"Thank you," he generously replied, and took it from her. He rubbed his hair with it, the cotton softness absorbing the wetness that clung to the white strands.  
  
"You don't look like you're from around here," Kaoru said, remembering the suitcase.  
  
"I'm from Kyoto."  
  
"Really? I have relatives there. Perhaps you know them...?"  
  
She doubted that he had heard her at all by the distant look on his face. He might be somewhat drier, but Kaoru could tell that he wasn't at comfort.  
  
'Poor guy. He must be worried about that lady.'  
  
"So, tell me about her," Kaoru said, his gaze shifting onto her once more. "About this woman. When did you meet her?"  
  
She felt that if she had talked about anything else, her guest would still be in his brooding state. The woman he was waiting for must've been the only thing on his mind, so Kaoru hoped that by talking about her he would be less tense.  
  
"We met in Kyoto when we were children," he replied, the concern in his face softening.  
  
"Did you come here to visit her?" Kaoru asked after taking a sip of her tea.  
  
"No. I came to Tokyo to find her."  
  
"...to find her?"  
  
The man slung the towel around his broad shoulders and nodded. "Yes. I haven't seen her since she had left Kyoto when I was ten years old. After she went, I began looking up any information I could find about her."  
  
He took the warm mug into his hands, and his cold skin savored the emanating heat. "My search brought me here to Tokyo. I finally was able to get her address, but when I came to this place..."  
  
He stopped there, feeling that the girl would come to the conclusion without him having to tell her.  
  
She was so different. Normally, he didn't talk openly with people he happened to meet on the streets, but there was something about this girl that made him feel comfortable, that made him actually WANT to talk.  
  
But she probably thought that he was an idiot. It wasn't common for people to find their childhood sweethearts after fourteen years of not seeing or even communicating with each other. What he was doing was unusually idealistic for him, but the girl probably saw him as a lovesick fool nonetheless.  
  
"That's amazing."  
  
His head shot up at her words, feeling her gaze on him as she spoke.  
  
"I mean, to come to a city you're not familiar with to look for someone that you haven't seen since childhood...that really is amazing."  
  
Her eyes...he hadn't realized it before, but the crystal blue pools of her eyes were so achingly familiar.  
  
"She's lucky to have someone that cares about her so much," the girl then smiled. "I'm sure that she'll be happy once she sees you again."  
  
His heart stuttered upon seeing that beautiful smile. It warmed him as if he were wrapped completely in sunlight. There was only one person who he knew with a smile like that and blue eyes like hers...  
  
His stare fixated on the silver ring that dangled from the chain around her neck. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before.  
  
"That ring..."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Where did you get that ring?"  
  
Undisturbed by the sudden change in topics, Kaoru held the small trinket in her fingers. "Oh, this? A boy I knew made it and gave it to me when I was little. My friends think it's worthless, but I still like wearing it—"  
  
Her eyes widened when she felt a pair of muscular arms wrapping around her in a suffocating embrace. She felt the man's cheek against hers, his face buried in the raven depths of her hair.  
  
"I was so blind," he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I should have known it was you all along."  
  
Kaoru ignored the blush that was rising in her cheeks, but she was too stunned to move away. "W-what?"  
  
He didn't seem to notice her state of shock and tightened his hold on her. "I've found you. I've finally found you, Kaoru-chan..."  
  
She thought that she hadn't heard right. No one has called her that for so long, not even Sano or her cousin.  
  
What he said next nearly sent her mind reeling into oblivion.  
  
"Now, I can marry you."  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
DUN, DUN, DUN!!! Oh, I'm evil aren't I? Aside from that, I hoped you all enjoyed reading this chapter. It was fun to write, but wait 'til you read the next chapters ^_^  
  
I can't believe how many reviews I got for the first chapter...I'm still in awe. All I can say is thanks to all of you guys! You seriously do not know how much your support helps me. So, a million times thanks you. You guys are great ^_^  
  
Onto the next chapter! 


	3. A Fresh Start

Yesterday's Memories  
  
Chapter Three: A Fresh Start  
  
"Now, I can marry you."  
  
Kaoru heard the words distinctly, but understanding them was a different matter entirely, and the same question kept ringing in her head.  
  
Since when was she engaged?  
  
Before she could pull away, the man tightened his arms around her. His embrace was unyielding, but to be in his arms was...comfortable. She remembered being held like this as a child once before. Kaoru felt safe and snug whenever that certain person hugged her, as if nothing could harm her.  
  
That was how she felt now. She knew nothing about this man, but the feeling of his arms wrapped around her was soothing. Everything about this was surreal, but at the same time, it felt right.  
  
Snapping out of her absurd thoughts, Kaoru felt that the logical thing to do was to step away from this stranger and get some answers.  
  
No matter how nice his arms felt.  
  
Putting her hands against his chest, Kaoru made her best effort to pull away from her guest. She backed away enough to see his face, but he kept his hold on her shoulders.  
  
Kaoru said the only thing that came to mind.  
  
"Wh...what?"  
  
Distress crossed his face, but he persisted.  
  
"I've come back for you, Kaoru-chan," he stated, his words still weighed with the emotion he had shown her through his one-sided embrace. "I'm here to marry you like I said I would."  
  
Her logic slowly returning to her, Kaoru stepped away from the man's arms completely and stood from her seat. "Sorry, but you're mixing me up with someone else."  
  
The man stared at her in confusion. "No, I'm not."  
  
"You have to be!" Kaoru argued, her hands flailing up and down in her outburst. "I've never seen you before!"  
  
Her last sentence made him stop, as if she had physically stricken him with her words. But Kaoru was too caught up with how bizarre the whole situation was to notice.  
  
"This doesn't make any sense! I CAN'T be engaged, especially to someone that I don't know! I mean, I don't even have a boyfriend!"  
  
Kaoru suddenly ceased in her ranting and smiled nervously.  
  
"You're a friend of Sano's, right?" she asked. "He put you up to this, didn't he? Well, it's not very funny—"  
  
She was cut off when two masculine hands gripped firmly around her tiny wrists, turquoise eyes burning into her.  
  
"I would NEVER joke about this." he stated evenly, his hands still around her wrists.  
  
Then, he brought his right hand to her face and cupped the side of her face. He savored the soft, warm skin underneath his palm. His left hand kept her steadily in one place, but the way that he had touched her cheek was surprisingly gentle.  
  
Again, memories tickled the recesses of her mind, but Kaoru pushed them back.  
  
"Kaoru-chan..." he spoke, his voice heavy with dread and hope at the same time. "You really can't remember?"  
  
His hand left her face and then traveled downwards, his fingers grasping the metal ring that hung around her neck.  
  
"...have you forgotten me?"  
  
Kaoru took this moment to scrutinize her guest. She examined the handsome face and the strange, yet unusually fitting, slivers of white hair.  
  
She would've been more comfortable if he wasn't staring at her like that, but it couldn't be helped. The way his eyes seemed to plead to her was almost heart-wrenching, even if she didn't know him. And the way that his fingers were clutching her ring...it was as if he was holding onto it for dear life. If the ring had not been metal, it would've probably crushed from the intensity of his grip. It was like this man was clasping the piece of jewelry for comfort, like it was the last thread of his happiness that he was desperately clinging onto...  
  
'...no...it couldn't be...'  
  
A flicker of dark, seemingly uncombed hair and slightly tanned skin flashed in her head. A face slowly materialized, and Kaoru could distinctively make out a boy's arrogant grin and eyes full of mischief.  
  
He had the same eyes. Although there was anxiety in them, this man had the same shade of turquoise. She concentrated on his hair and imagined that the white had darkened into black.  
  
Had his skin been a little tanner, he looked like the spitting image of someone that she had once known...  
  
"...Enishi...?" the name sounded unknown to her, but at the same time, it was familiar. It had been so long since she had heard the name that Kaoru was almost fascinated with it.  
  
In her bemused state, she had lost control of her actions, causing a ceramic mug to be knocked off the coffee table with her hand.  
  
The shattering of the mug against the wooden floor brought her partially back to her senses, her mind still a mess.  
  
"That's two I broke today," she sputtered incoherently to herself as she picked up the pieces. Enishi knelt down onto the floor and helped her by taking some of the wet shards into his own hands.  
  
"So, how are you?" Kaoru asked. Enishi noticed how hard her hands were shaking. She was obviously trying to hide her shock by starting a conversation with him, even if her attempt was unsuccessful.  
  
He smiled. Kaoru hadn't changed a bit.  
  
"I'm fine now," he said truthfully.  
  
He followed her back into the kitchen to dispose of the pieces of the broken mug. They then went back to the living room where Kaoru told him to take a seat. She then proceeded to pace back and forth with her childhood friend watching curiously.  
  
Silence prevailed in the room while Kaoru walked back and forth, her fingers intertwined and her eyes fixated ahead, never looking at him.  
  
"Why don't you sit down?" he asked her.  
  
She abruptly stopped in her steps and shook her head. "No, I'm okay." She tried to smile, but her uneasiness made the effort a failure.  
  
"...I've wanted to see you for fourteen years now," he suddenly spoke, his eyes looking sorrowfully at her despite the confident smile he wore. "After you left Kyoto, it took everything I had from running after you, Kaoru-chan. And now, after all these years..."  
  
He bent his head, his smile still present on his lips. "I was looking forward to seeing you when I learned you lived here," he laughed quietly. "I guess I was so worried that the address I had written down was wrong that I didn't even notice you outside in the rain."  
  
"Don't feel bad," Kaoru interrupted. "I didn't notice you either, what with the white hair and all."  
  
He chuckled at her slight joke, but the sadness was etched on his face. "I was so happy that I had found you again. But..."  
  
He lifted his face to hers, the sad smile on his attractive features.  
  
"You...don't look happy to see me."  
  
Realizing how insensitive she had been to him, Kaoru walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. She placed a frail hand over his, sympathy and regret pulling her away from her bewilderment.  
  
"I'm sorry," she began. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just that I've had a really long day."  
  
Enishi fell silent, wondering what could've happened to make Kaoru so exhausted.  
  
"This morning I caught three of my students looking at pornography when they SHOULD'VE been reading Japanese literature. Then I had to assign them to detention for two hours. After that, my neighbor came to visit me and brought an unexpected guest that I haven't seen in over three months. Then I spent two hours making sure that those students I told you about cleaned my whole classroom until it was sparkling. I walked over to the grocery shop because my car broke down for what has got to be the hundredth time, and I walked home in the rain because I was dumb enough to forget my umbrella.  
  
"And then, I bumped into you. You're the second unexpected person that I've seen today, believe it or not."  
  
She laughed softly at herself, Enishi's stare remaining on her.  
  
"That certainly does sound like a long day."  
  
Kaoru was about to say something, but then he pulled her into another tight embrace. His fingers intertwined with the black tresses of her hair, his lips almost brushing the lobe of her ear.  
  
"When we are married, you won't have to go through any of that," he whispered into her ear. "As your husband, I'll provide for you."  
  
The questions flooded into her mind again at the words 'married' and 'husband'. Kaoru didn't know whether to be more offended or more surprised at the peculiar way Enishi was acting.  
  
"...what do you mean, 'married'?"  
  
Enishi pulled away, his eyes holding hers. She almost regretted asking the question from seeing the hurt look on his face, but marriage was too serious of a topic for Kaoru to merely brush it aside.  
  
Especially when it seemed like Enishi wasn't kidding about it.  
  
"Don't you remember when we were children?" he asked her. "Don't you remember why I gave you that ring in the first place?"  
  
Reluctantly, Kaoru shook her head. Truth be told, she couldn't clearly remember the whole reason behind the ring, but she kept it for its sentimental value.  
  
"I always thought that it was a gift," she answered tentatively.  
  
"Well, that's part of why I gave it to you," Enishi replied, and he squeezed her hand affectionately. "Kaoru-chan, remember when your cousin came to my home to take you back to your family?"  
  
A nod.  
  
"You said that you still wanted to be with me. I gave you that ring so we could be together."  
  
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Kaoru didn't like where this was going at all.  
  
"It's your engagement ring."  
  
Kaoru balked. Her trembling fingers clasped the ring on her necklace, and she looked at it with disbelief.  
  
She always knew there was something about this ring that was so significant. But she was too young to remember it in the span of fourteen years, until now.  
  
Kaoru looked at Enishi, and the strings of her heart were pulled by the compassionate way he was holding her hand and the glimmer of hope in his eyes.  
  
She took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy to tell him, but she had to. Enishi didn't deserve this. Not in the least bit.  
  
"...I can't." The words were almost unsympathetic to say, but they needed to be said.  
  
It took only a few seconds for the words to pass through his ears, but comprehending them was a different, more difficult matter. "...what?"  
  
"I said I can't," she repeated, firmly this time. "With everything that's going on right now, I can't get married—"  
  
"But you said that you would," he cut her off, his voice rising.  
  
It almost killed her to see her childhood friend like this, but Kaoru had to do this for both their sakes. "Enishi, this is for the best—"  
  
"I asked you if I made you happy," he interrupted, grief and anger clouding his eyes. "I asked you if you wanted to be my wife, and you said that you would. You said that you would...!"  
  
"I was eight years old!" Kaoru's voice rose to a shout. "I didn't know exactly how serious marriage was, I was only a child!"  
  
"And so was I!" he yelled back at her, startling her. "But unlike you, I meant everything that I said! I wanted to be your husband, I wanted to be with you!"  
  
Kaoru was at a loss for words, surprised by Enishi's sudden outburst. One minute he was a composed gentleman, and the next he was a man on the verge of a breakdown, all over an exchange of words between them as children. What was she to him? What was it about her that drove him into a tumult of rage?  
  
"But I guess I was a fool for coming here," he continued, the smirk on his face unsettling her nerves. "I should've known that Shinomori had some part in your sudden change of heart."  
  
"Shinomori...you mean Aoshi?" Kaoru asked, wondering why her cousin would have anything to do with this conversation.  
  
"Isn't it obvious? When he brought you back to Tokyo, he convinced you to forget about our engagement, didn't he?" he said accusingly with a grim smile. "How fitting for someone of his character."  
  
Kaoru came alive with anger, standing up from the couch and glowering at her guest. "Who are you to judge my cousin? You don't even know Aoshi, so you have no right to label him like that!"  
  
"If it weren't for your beloved cousin, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place."  
  
"What the HELL are you talking about?!" she shouted. "You can't blame Aoshi for a decision that I made! He doesn't have anything to do with this—"  
  
Her words were caught in her throat when her coffee table flipped over, soundly crashing onto the floor. The impact drowned the pitter-patter of the rain outside, and it sent a slight tremor through the room.  
  
Taking her eyes off the fallen table, she looked to Enishi. He was standing like she was now, his tall form towering over her. He was the epitome of intimidation at that moment. His lips were drawn in a scowl and his eyes sent a cold shiver down her spine.  
  
"He has EVERYTHING to do with this!" he roared, his resentment reverberating off the walls of her apartment. "He was the one that took you away! If it wasn't for him, you could have stayed in Kyoto! If he hadn't come, you could have stayed with me!"  
  
Kaoru was silent, not knowing what to say. His hands were drawn into fists at his sides, shaking with rage. She looked bravely into his eyes, and she saw the antagonism was swirling in the smoldering turquoise pools.  
  
But she saw something else in them. His eyes spoke of loss, sadness, pain...  
  
...and she had caused them all. Whether she had known it or not, Kaoru was the reason for his heartache.  
  
He turned on his heel and briskly walked away. Before she could even stop him, Enishi left her apartment, slamming the door on his way out. After the door had settled on its hinges, the steady rhythm of the rain shower outside was all she heard.  
  
She was left with her troubled thoughts and overturned coffee table for company. Without saying a word, she left the living room and went into the kitchen. The numbers and white background of her calendar stood out from the pale paint of the wall. Her hand flipped onto the next page and a certain date caught her attention.  
  
June 10. A little over a month until the anniversary of her father's death.  
  
Kaoru sighed and her hand fell away from the calendar, wishing that she had remained in bed this morning.  
  
* * * *  
  
Drops as cold as liquid ice ran down the white strands of his hair. The rain was beginning to seep through his trench coat, forming goosebumps on his skin. He had waited out in the rain earlier before, but this was worse. And the fact that the downpour had raged into a storm had nothing to do with it.  
  
Enishi never felt so cold before in his life.  
  
He was an idiot, and absolute goddamned idiot. How could he expect someone to remember a promise that they had made fourteen years after the day of its creation? To believe that she would welcome him with open arms, to believe that she would be prepared to become his wife...it was all very childish of him.  
  
Enishi was usually a rational person. Back in Kyoto, he was even deemed as aloof and calculating as his father. He was a man of logic, a realist.  
  
Kaoru had changed that. Every moment he spent as a child laughing with her and holding her hand brought a sense of peace that was so blissful that he couldn't put it in words to this day. When he was around her, he didn't feel that he had to be tough or indifferent. Other than his sister, Kaoru had accepted him whereas all other people had been afraid of him.  
  
But now, she had rejected him. Just like everyone else. And that alone was unbearable.  
  
He had lost his dreams. He had lost his happiness. But none of those could add up to the loss of her...  
  
Footsteps sounded in the thick sheets of rain, but he ignored them. They grew louder, each one splashing in the endless puddles created by the night rain. He ignored them though, the words of Kaoru's rejection echoing continuously in his head like a broken melody...  
  
The footsteps stopped, but he paid no attention. The sadness that threatened to take over what was left of his mental stability was too overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact that he didn't even notice when a voice began talking out of nowhere...  
  
"Hello? Hey, are you deaf?!"  
  
The enraged words stirred memories of a conversation that occurred recently, and his head snapped up to meet a pair of bright blue eyes glaring from a livid, but nonetheless beautiful face.  
  
"You really are a jerk, you know that?" she yelled over the pounding rain, her finger stabbing the middle of his chest. "I was kind enough to let you into my apartment because I didn't want you to get sick, and you get pissed at me for not agreeing to marry you!"  
  
A clap of thunder rattled the sky, but it fell on deaf ears.  
  
"I possibly had the WORST day of my life, and you topped it all off by accusing my cousin of something that he didn't do, and then you flipped over my coffee table! You don't go destroying other people's things! Especially if they invite you into their home!"  
  
He was speechless, allowing her to continue her tirade as the storm raged on.  
  
"And you don't lose your temper and take it out on other people!" she screamed. "It's disrespectful and it's just plain RUDE!!!"  
  
There were a few moments of silence between them, until he could find his voice. "...why are you here?"  
  
Kaoru was taken aback by his question, but she held onto her anger. "What do you mean why am I here? To take your sorry ass back to the apartment!"  
  
"But why?"  
  
She sighed, too exhausted to be mad anymore. Kaoru took a seat beside him on the bench. "Because I was afraid of you getting lost."  
  
Turquoise eyes widened, but she only continued. "You said that you were from Kyoto, right? I didn't think that you would be too familiar with this city, so I went after you."  
  
Enishi noticed the rain-soaked jacket that clung to her like a wet rag. Her hair was completely drenched from the downpour, and her white skin was glistening with water. From looking at her in this weary state, he would've guessed that she had been searching for him for about two hours.  
  
He felt his stomach twist in knots...no, he was supposed to be angry, he was supposed to be infuriated with her! She broke his heart and their promise, she was the one that drove him out of her apartment in the first place!  
  
"I said that I didn't want to marry you, but I didn't mean that I didn't want to see you."  
  
Enishi felt his apathy wash away upon hearing the words. He looked at her as if he were hypnotized, wanting her to continue.  
  
"Despite wrecking my property, I'm glad that you came to Tokyo," she said. "I always wondered how you were doing all these years."  
  
"...so...why?"  
  
Raven brows creased when she heard the hint of pain in his words. "Why won't you...?"  
  
Comprehension dawned upon her. "We haven't seen each other for so long, Enishi. I could be completely different than the person that you cared about fourteen years ago. I don't want to rush into something serious because I don't want you to regret it in the end."  
  
She looked him right in the eye, the solemnity never leaving her face. "We might've been friends, but there's so much about me that you don't know. And I hardly know anything about you."  
  
He turned away from her. The stern tone she had used had solidified the rejection. Kaoru wasn't going to marry him, and he would return to Kyoto with his lost hopes...  
  
"But I guess that's why I'm glad you came to visit," she spoke again. "So we can catch up."  
  
Kaoru stood from the bench and stepped in front of him. Her hand extended out to him, a smile gracing her lovely features.  
  
"Let's start over. Nice to meet you, I'm Kamiya Kaoru!"  
  
He looked at her hand, and then he looked at her. Despite her peculiar behavior, he returned her smile.  
  
"Yukishiro Enishi," he replied, taking her frail hand into his.  
  
"It's a pleasure meeting you," she continued. "Well, no sense standing out in the rain like this. You can tell me more about yourself at my apartment."  
  
Had it been anyone else who said that, Enishi would've thought that the statement had implied something more...intimate. But Kaoru's innocence had pushed aside that thought while she dragged him onto his feet and he followed her through the rain.  
  
Glancing at the corners of his eyes, he noticed that she was shivering from the cold. She was getting more soaked by the second as they walked, and he saw her recoil slightly when another roar of thunder sounded into the dying evening. Apparently, she wasn't too enraged to ignore her fears this time.  
  
Without giving it a second thought, he slipped off his coat and placed it over Kaoru's head. She stopped in her tracks and questioned him with her eyes, but he disregarded it as he pulled her into his arms.  
  
"...you're something else," he whispered, but she heard him through the rain and howling of the wind. "You really are."  
  
Kaoru softened at the emotional words, and she felt herself relaxing in his embrace. There was that peace again, the same soothing effect she had felt earlier when he had hugged her. It was so comforting that she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in his strong arms...  
  
...the spell only lasted for a few seconds. She remembered where she was, and she immediately stepped out of his embrace, doing her best to glare at him and praying that he couldn't see the pink that tickled her cheeks.  
  
"Don't get too friendly, mister," she huffed. "We just met."  
  
He had missed the warmth of her delicate body, but he smiled in spite of himself. "Of course. I apologize."  
  
"Oh, and for your sake, you better hope that my table isn't broken. Otherwise, you're getting me a new one."  
  
Enishi laughed for what it seemed like the first time in ages, and he walked side by side with Kaoru as the rain continued to fall.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Believe it or not, this chapter was difficult to write. It was hard writing about Kaoru's reaction to the engagement; I had to pull it off and manage to keep her in character. I really hope that she isn't Mary- Sueish or OOC. What do you think Kaoru fans? Did I express her temper well?  
  
Anyway, thank you very much for all the feedback! I have so many plans and twists to keep this story going! Thanks again for your support ^_^ 


	4. Meet the Neighbors

Yesterday's Memories  
  
Chapter Four: Meet the Neighbors  
  
Enishi stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing a warm towel through his wet hair. The heat escaped into the coolness of the hallway as he walked out. Stopping as soon as he came out, he heard shuffling in the room diagonal to the bathroom. Curious, he went into the room to find Kaoru laying out a blanket over a futon.  
  
She heard him and turned to acknowledge him. "I found a spare futon. I hope it's comfortable enough."  
  
He nodded. "It's fine, Kaoru-ch..."  
  
Enishi stopped himself from finishing his sentence. After clearly stating that she couldn't marry, he wasn't sure whether or not he should use the name he had called her when they were children.  
  
Understanding why he didn't say anymore, Kaoru straightened a crease from the blanket and offered him a warm smile.  
  
"It's okay. You can call me by that if you want to."  
  
Enishi hesitated, but the gentleness of her voice was enough to assure him. "Thank you, Kaoru-chan."  
  
"No problem," she replied and got ready to leave the room. "Well, I got to get bed. I have work in the morning."  
  
He hid his disappointment as he moved aside to let her pass. Kaoru gave him another smile before she left.  
  
"Good night."  
  
He nodded, and she walked out of the room. Enishi suddenly felt cold again, but he ignored it. He hung the towel over a nearby chair and sunk into the futon. The warm bath that Kaoru had drawn for him had dulled his senses to the point that he only wanted to sleep.  
  
He sniffed the blanket underneath him. Her scent still lingered there.  
  
Despite what happened, Enishi was happy when Kaoru had found him in the streets. His anger was nearly forgotten when he recognized the blue eyes and raven bangs that adorned the face that he had already memorized. He was amazed by how much she had grown. The little, round-faced girl that he had known had matured into a petite young woman with a short temper. She was still brazen and spunky as ever, and he wouldn't have it any other way.  
  
But her eagerness to take him into her home when she had mistaken him for a stranger...that worried him. If it had been any other man in his place, they would probably have taken advantage of the situation and Kaoru's trust.  
  
His hand gripped the blanket involuntarily at the thought. Kaoru shouldn't be so willing to help people she didn't know, especially if she was single and didn't have anyone to protect her.  
  
He sighed. How long has she been living like this? It was fortunate that Enishi had came to Tokyo when he did. If Kaoru kept lending a helping hand to complete strangers, then it's a possibility that someday her good intentions would backfire on her when someone decided to take her money or rob her of her things...  
  
Or worse, kill her in cold blood.  
  
Enishi bristled. That wouldn't happen. He wouldn't let it. As long as he was here, no one was going to hurt her.  
  
He would die before he saw his Kaoru-chan harmed.  
  
* * * *  
  
Kaoru stared at the ceiling above her head, her body weary from searching for Enishi in the rain. Normally, she would've stayed in her house during a thunderstorm, but she was too worried about her guest that she had to go out into the city to find him with her fingers plugged into her ears.  
  
She looked to the clock on the nightstand. The digital numbers read ten minutes until midnight. It was late, and she had work in the morning. Kaoru would probably have to wake up earlier to make breakfast for herself and Enishi...  
  
The white-haired man invaded her thoughts. Who knew that the mischievous little boy that she knew in Kyoto would come back after so long and show up in front of her apartment?  
  
He was cute when he was little. Now, Kaoru had to admit that he had grown into a handsome man. With his unruly silver-white hair, lean, but muscular build, and deep turquoise eyes, Enishi was so attractive that he was almost sinful...  
  
A blush warmed her cheeks and Kaoru scolded herself. She shouldn't be thinking such things about a childhood friend. It wasn't right, she chided.  
  
...still, he really was more handsome than most men...  
  
Her thoughts were shattered by a low rumble from outside. She almost squeaked at the noise; it meant that the thunderstorm had not passed over the city yet. How in the hell was she supposed to get any sleep if the weather wouldn't let her?  
  
When the rumble passed, the steady downpour of the rain was all she heard. Her eyelids batted slowly, and the room was beginning to dissolve in darkness.  
  
A few minutes later, Kaoru fallen soundly asleep. Hopefully, the night would be good to her.  
  
She needed her strength in case tomorrow held any more unexpected surprises.  
  
* * * *  
  
Tomoe was probably worried about him right now. After all, he didn't leave any note informing anyone about his whereabouts. He practically gathered his laptop computer and clothes in a suitcase and went to the airport. Although the thought of his sister worrying saddened him a bit, Enishi felt that he HAD to go to Tokyo.  
  
And he still felt that way now.  
  
When he had known her, Enishi never thought of Kaoru as actually 'forgetful'. He didn't blame her for not recognizing him on sight, but he wondered how she had forgotten the reason he had given her the ring. Surely, Kaoru would've been the kind of person to remember such things.  
  
What could have possibly made her forget?  
  
The question crossed his mind several times when he had wandered out in the rain, and now, he couldn't block it out. It made him restless and almost frustrated that he couldn't even sleep. She shouldn't have forgotten, it wasn't like her.  
  
He stiffened against the futon when he heard a muffled noise in the room next to his. Enishi was still, straining his ears to detect anything else.  
  
Rustling, and then a whimper.  
  
He quietly slipped out of his futon and left his room as quickly as he could. The rustling grew louder as he approached the door at the end of the hallway. He was silent, but his heart was racing inside of his chest.  
  
Muscles tense and ready to take action, Enishi creaked the door open.  
  
To his relief, he saw no intruder or ax-wielding murderer leaning over Kaoru with a weapon poised in his hand. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and all he saw was a small form huddled tightly in the blankets that surrounded it.  
  
He noticed that she was trembling in the sheets that she hid herself with. Worried, he went to her bedside to make sure that she was all right. Her breathing was almost erratic, her teeth clenching and unclenching as if she were being physically attacked.  
  
A flash of lightning illuminated the room for a second, followed by a loud crash of thunder. A whimper escaped her lips, and hearing it was painful.  
  
Drops of silver formed at the edges of her tightly closed eyelids, and they trailed down her ivory cheeks. He realized that she was crying, and then it had hit him.  
  
She was having a nightmare.  
  
Without waking her up, Enishi sat next to her and noiselessly swung his legs up on the mattress. He sat up against the pillows and the bed rest as he gently lifted Kaoru and positioned her against his chest. His arms silently wrapped around her, and he watched her face slowly softening into an expression of tranquility.  
  
Her cheek rested over his heart, and her soft hair fell over his arm, tickling his skin. His hand brushed away the trails of tears that stained her cheeks, hoping that he could bring her some sort of comfort.  
  
He shook his head. Enishi should leave. If she woke up and found her in his arms, Kaoru would probably be furious.  
  
Enishi bit his lip in thought, a habit that Tomoe had chided him for. If he left, Kaoru would be alone to fend off the nightmare herself. Worse, she would have the thunder and lightning to fight off when she woke up.  
  
...she was so warm. Her hair was liquid silk and smelled of spring flowers. Her breathing was in rhythm with the beating of her heart as she slept.  
  
She looked so beautiful. So peaceful. Just like she looked whenever he held her in his arms when they were children.  
  
She mumbled something he didn't catch, and snuggled up against him. He smiled, and he lifted the blanket over them both.  
  
He would stay. At least until the thunderstorm passed.  
  
It was another thirty minutes until the rain had eased into a slight drizzle and the lightning was no more. But Enishi never went back to his room.  
  
He had fallen asleep with Kaoru in his arms.  
  
* * * *  
  
After thirteen years of living in this world, Sagara Yahiko had found that there were only a few people he could count on. In fact, there were only four who he trusted with his life.  
  
The first one was Kamiya Kaoru. Although his name for her was 'busu', that was the only way he could ever show her how much she meant to him. Kaoru was an older sister, always nagging him to finish his homework or cut back on the junk food. And it's not like Yahiko really thought that she was ugly. Teasing her was just too much fun.  
  
The second was Kaoru's father, who was now deceased. Old Man Kamiya was the one who put his brother in line, and he also treated Yahiko like a younger son. Even if he was at times stubborn, Old Man Kamiya had a great sense of humor and a heart of gold. Like Kaoru, he was always happy to help people down on their luck. But as Fate would have it, the good people were always the ones to get screwed in the end. Yahiko was still bitter about his death, and that was why he vowed to protect Kaoru as best as he could. Old Man Kamiya would have wanted that.  
  
Himura Kenshin was the third. Yeah, the guy looked more like a lady with that unnaturally long red hair and that scrawny figure of his, but Yahiko knew that he sure as hell didn't fight like a woman. He was the best fighter that he had ever known other than his brother, and although he was a softie, Kenshin was an all-around good guy. He was also the one who saved Sanosuke's ass from a gang when he was stupid enough to shoot off his big mouth.  
  
Last, but not least, was Yahiko's older brother: Sagara Sanosuke. His gravity-defying hair made him look like a rooster, but he didn't act like one. Sano always managed to keep his cool...unless he didn't agree with someone else. That was a problem. Sano was outspoken, and for some reason, trouble seemed to love to follow him around. And Sano was perfectly fine when it had found him.  
  
Other than the loud-mouthed, bullheaded brother that he had known him to be, Sano was a good person. He was the one that raised Yahiko after their father decided to run off with some floozy and ditch them. Sure Sano had his faults, but he had a sense of right and wrong.  
  
But unfortunately, Sano also had a nasty habit of gambling.  
  
Yahiko opened the fridge only to find a carton of expired milk. He took the carton out of the fridge and opened it. He nearly coughed when the foul, sour scent reached his nostrils.  
  
This wasn't fit for a human. Hell, it wasn't fit for any living organism.  
  
Yahiko went to the sink and poured out the contents. Lumps covered in thick white liquid poured out, and he turned on the faucet to send them down the drain. After he was finished, he disposed of the carton and went to his brother's room.  
  
Snoring loudly in the middle of his bed was Sano. Yahiko shook his arm. When that didn't work, he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. After he returned, he promptly threw it at Sano's face.  
  
Sputtering and face dripping with icy cold water, the older brother woke up. When he saw the empty glass in Yahiko's hand, he glared at him.  
  
"What the hell was that for?"  
  
"To wake you up. And to tell you that we don't have any food."  
  
Sano groaned and pulled the blanket over him. "I'll get some food on my way home today."  
  
"Well that's all fine and dandy, but what the hell am I supposed to eat until then?"  
  
"Watch your damn mouth, brat."  
  
"You're one to talk, Rooster-head!"  
  
Sano sat up from his bed and rubbed his temples. "Relax, will you? I'll go to the grocery store today. In the meantime, we'll get something to eat at Jou-chan's."  
  
Yahiko grimaced at the thought of charred toast and runny eggs. "I'm not eating her cooking!"  
  
Sano shrugged, pulling on a T-shirt. "Then I guess you'll be going to school with an empty stomach."  
  
Shoulders slumped over in defeat as Yahiko's stomach grumble loudly. His brother had a point: food is food, after all.  
  
After Sano brushed his teeth and attempted to comb his hair, they left their untidy apartment and were about to go across the hallway over to Kaoru's home.  
  
Before they knocked on her door, a familiar voice stopped them.  
  
"Good morning Sano and Yahiko."  
  
"Oi, Kenshin!" Sano's jovial voice greeted the redhead. "What are you up to?"  
  
He smiled as he approached them. "Not much. How are you doing?"  
  
"Same as always," Sano answered. "Hey, have you eaten yet?"  
  
The redhead shook his head. "No, that I have not."  
  
"We're getting some breakfast at Jou-chan's. I'm sure she wouldn't mind having you over." Sano quickly added when he saw the hesitant look on his friend's face.  
  
Too hungry to wait in the hallway any longer, Yahiko twisted the knob and opened the door. He knew that she usually kept her door unlocked in case he or Sano needed something.  
  
They entered Kaoru's apartment. Yahiko had to hand it to her: even if she couldn't cook for shit, Kaoru still managed to keep her home decently neat.  
  
That thought instantly disappeared when Yahiko saw the overturned coffee table in the middle of the living room.  
  
Panic gripped him when he saw the fallen piece of furniture.  
  
"...what happened here?" Sano was the first to speak, Kenshin in ominous silence.  
  
But Yahiko spoke the name that first came to his mind. "Kaoru? Kaoru?!"  
  
Before either man could stop him, Yahiko bolted down to Kaoru's room, hoping that the tomboy was asleep in her bed.  
* * * *  
  
Kaoru's eyes fluttered open. Her room came into view after her vision had adjusted. She looked at her clock and saw that it was almost seven in the morning.  
  
She set her clock at exactly seven. How was it that she was able to wake up when her alarm didn't even go off?  
  
Brushing away the thought, ten more minutes of sleep sounded tempting. Kaoru nuzzled against what she believed to be her pillow, but then stopped.  
  
When did her pillow have muscles?  
  
Kaoru found that she was staring at a well-built chest thinly veiled by an undershirt. Her eyes looked up and saw the snow-white hair and the sleeping face of her guest.  
  
Enishi was in her bed. And his arms were around her.  
  
Before Kaoru could even say anything, her door swung open. Her eyes left Enishi and settled upon Yahiko, who stood at the entrance of her room.  
  
The boy's auburn eyes went wide and his mouth fell open when he saw them. Kaoru could see that the muscle in his jaw was twitching, and she knew he was trying to say something.  
  
"Yahiko!" Sano's voice beckoned the boy. "Is she here—"  
  
He was cut off when he had seen the white-haired stranger holding a blushing Kaoru in bed. Kenshin followed in, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.  
  
And it was so not helping that a few of her pajama buttons had come undone during her sleep.  
  
A few tense moments passed, until Sano was polite enough to break the morning quiet.  
  
"WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!?"  
  
Kaoru, red-faced and flustered, tried to find her voice when Enishi decided to finally wake up. His eyes groggily blinked open, and he yawned loudly. He smiled lazily when he found Kaoru in his arms, but his expression was quick to change when he saw the alarm on her face.  
  
He looked to the door and saw the two men and boy gaping at Kaoru and him. Not bothering to hide his annoyance, he glared at them.  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
Yahiko was about to give the stranger a piece of his mind, until Sano shoved him back.  
  
"Yeah," he began, "you can start by getting your hands off of her."  
  
Enishi must not have liked the hostile tone in Sano's voice because his arms protectively tightened around Kaoru, who was still too shocked and embarrassed to say anything.  
  
"And who are you to come barging into a young lady's home so early in the morning?" Enishi drawled coolly.  
  
"And who are you to be sharing that same young lady's bed?" Kenshin asked. His voice was composed, but it was obvious that he didn't like this man at all.  
  
Enishi smirked. "I believe I asked you first."  
  
"If you MUST know, I'm her neighbor," Sano shot back, his words dripping with venom. "Now, mind telling us who you are?"  
  
Kaoru looked expectantly at Enishi. It was bad enough that she couldn't even begin to explain to her friends that this certainly wasn't what it looked like when she didn't even know what was going on.  
  
She could only hope Enishi wouldn't say anything that made the situation look even worse.  
  
His eyes grinned at them as he affectionately held her. "I'm her fiancé."  
  
"BULLSHIT!!!"  
  
"ORO?!?"  
  
"THE HELL YOU ARE!!!"  
  
Kaoru cursed to herself, burying her face into her hands.  
  
Today was going to be another long day.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Kaoru-dono?"  
  
"Yes, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked while she handed him another plate to dry.  
  
"Yukishiro-san...how do you know him?"  
  
Kaoru sighed, rinsing off another soapy dish. "He's a childhood friend of mine from Kyoto. We met when I was eight."  
  
"Forgive me for saying, but he seems to act like you two are more than just friends."  
  
She blushed, almost dropping the dish in her hand. "Well...it's a long story."  
  
Kenshin noticed the pink that swarmed her cheeks briefly as he rubbed the cloth over the surface of the dish, but he decided against commenting about it.  
  
"How long is Yukishiro-san staying?"  
  
"I'm not sure. He really didn't say."  
  
He hesitated, but asked, "Will he be continuing to stay here?"  
  
"Yes," Kaoru replied, handing him another dish. "I figured that since he went through so much trouble looking for me, the least I could do was offer him a place to stay. Hotels aren't exactly cheap."  
  
"I see."  
  
Kaoru looked up at Kenshin from her long bangs, her lips drawn downward. "Kenshin, is something wrong?"  
  
He immediately shook his head and he smiled. "I am fine Kaoru-dono."  
  
Kaoru smiled back at him and rolled up one of the sleeves that was beginning to roll down her arm, and she continued to wash the dishes.  
  
"...is Yukishiro-san really your fiancé?"  
  
Another deep blush, but Kaoru was quick to reply. "No, of course not! I'm sure that he was joking with you guys. We're just friends!"  
  
Kenshin proceeded drying, allowing the gentle clinking of the dishes and the sound of the running water to calm him. He shouldn't have anything to worry about, right? Kaoru said herself that this Yukishiro Enishi was a childhood friend who plainly came to visit her. He had no reason to fret over it.  
  
Yes, that was all Enishi was...just a friend.  
  
* * * *  
  
Enishi looked back nonchalantly at the man and the brat sitting across from him. He noted the look of suspicion in the older one's eyes, and he could see the brat boring holes into him as he glared at him.  
  
Kaoru certainly did have interesting neighbors in Tokyo.  
  
"So...you're the kid that Aoshi told us about."  
  
A simple nod was Enishi's answer.  
  
"Mind telling us why you're in Tokyo?"  
  
Enishi grinned. "Simply catching up on old times."  
  
"Then why the hell were you in Kaoru's bed?" the boy hissed.  
  
"Chill, Yahiko," Sano scolded him and looked back at Enishi. "My little brother has a point, you know. Normal people don't usually jump into bed with someone that they haven't seen in fourteen years. Mind explaining yourself?"  
  
Yahiko winced at what Sano's statement. He knew that his brother didn't mean it, but the way that he spoke implied things that he didn't want to even think about. It was bad enough finding this guy with Kaoru in his arms. The thought of him being intimate with busu was enough to make him throw up his poorly prepared breakfast.  
  
"I don't see why I have to explain my actions to you."  
  
Sano quirked an eyebrow, obviously not liking this man's aloof nature. "Just who the hell do you think you are, pal? What made you think that you had every right to suddenly show up out of nowhere and invite yourself into Jou-chan's apartment—"  
  
"She invited me."  
  
"That still doesn't mean that you had to get cozy with her!" Sano spat at him.  
  
Enishi's grin settled into a thin line. "Nothing happened. Even if that were the case, it's quite strange that for being her neighbor you're unusually possessive of Kaoru-chan."  
  
"Don't call her that!"  
  
Both men stared at the boy. Teeth gritted and fists clenched, Yahiko glowered at the stranger.  
  
"You don't even know her, you bastard! Stop talking about her like she's your girlfriend or something!"  
  
Sano placed a hand on the boy's rigid shoulder and pushed him back onto the couch.  
  
"You better listen to me, 'cause this is the only time I'll say this," Sano said threateningly, turning his attention back to Enishi. "I've been living next to Jou-chan in this apartment way before you met her, and she's been like a little sister to me. If you do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to hurt her..."  
  
Their eyes locked together as each man glared at one another, one stoic and the other clearly grim.  
  
"I'll rip you apart and send your limbs back to Kyoto in a coffin."  
  
His threat made him feel both smug and offended. Enishi didn't see Sano as a threat to him, despite his ominous threat, but he didn't like the way that this man was talking to him. It was like he was accusing HIM of being the one that would harm Kaoru, and Enishi thought himself as being the last one to do anything of the sort.  
  
Rather than replying with a smart comment, Enishi kept quiet when Kaoru and the redheaded man came back into the living room. Kaoru had two lunches that she was kind enough to make for Sano and Yahiko after she heard that they had run out of food. The boy took it, but not after insulting her about her lack of culinary skills. An argument ensued between the high school teacher and the brat with Sano trying to break it up.  
  
In the midst of the chaos, Enishi managed to get a better look at the redheaded man. Despite his frail features, there was a quiet strength in his presence. After studying the art of Garyu-Watoujutsu since he could walk, Enishi could sense the aura surrounding the man.  
  
This man was also a fighter. And a skilled one at that.  
  
His violet eyes locked onto him, the slightest trace of a frown on his face. For once, Enishi did not throw an intimidating smirk his way. Instead, he glared coldly at him, undaunted by the redheaded man.  
  
He didn't like him. In fact, he was sure that he disliked him more than the brat and his loudmouthed brother. He especially loathed the way this little redheaded man acted towards Kaoru. Like her neighbor, he seemed to want to protect her, too.  
  
But not as an older brother would protect a sister.  
  
At that moment, it was clear: the redheaded man was to be Enishi's rival.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
Well, guess that answers your question about a love triangle, huh?  
  
Okay, I guess I would like to say a few things right now. First of all, thank you for your support. I truly CANNOT thank you guys enough for all the feedback. It's very helpful to me; you have no idea.  
  
Second, why are some of you being so hard on Kaoru? You're entitled to your opinion, but still! I know it was a little out of character for her to forget that little 'promise', but can you honestly say that you remember EVERYTHING when you were eight years old? Oh, and I have something more behind her forgetfulness, but that won't be coming up until after a few more chapters.  
  
Third, I'm really happy that most of you think I've got Kaoru and Enishi down! YAY, I DID SOMETHING RIGHT!!!! ^_^  
  
I still plan to have more RK characters to show up, but for now Sano, Yahiko, and Kenshin will have to do!  
  
Well, back to writing! Thanks again!  
  
P.S. I have read the Great Gatsby, and I still hate Daisy's guts. I liked the book, but it was a little lengthy. 


	5. Peony

Yesterday's Memories  
  
Chapter Five: Peony  
  
She sighed heavily, reveling in what little peace was left of the morning. Convincing Sano, Yahiko, and Kenshin that she would be all right was tiring. However, she was finally able to do just that, and she saw them off after reassuring them that she would go right to work after moving her flowers onto the roof of the apartment.  
  
She remembered the reluctant behavior of all three of them, especially Kenshin. After breakfast, she couldn't help but notice the tension between the redheaded man and Enishi. It wasn't like Kenshin to act so cold towards strangers; he was usually friendly and willing to start a conversation.  
  
But not with Enishi.  
  
"What are you doing up here?"  
  
As if he materialized, Enishi was right there a few feet behind her. Kaoru turned around and walked over to him, a strange calmness in her steps as she approached.  
  
Raising a brow, he said nothing when she had closed the distance between them with one final step. He watched how the morning wind weaved through the thick, raven strands of her hair and bangs, and how the blue of her eyes seemed to glisten in the light of the slowly rising sun...  
  
A hard knock broke his thoughts, and a throbbing pain began to swell in his head. His hands immediately began to rub the bump forming beneath the silver white locks of his hair. He looked to Kaoru and found that a clenched fist was resting at her side and she was scowling at him.  
  
"And what was that for?" he asked crossly, still nursing his injured head.  
  
"For sneaking into my bed last night," she curtly answered, and she began to tend to one of her potted flowers. "And for all the commotion you caused this morning!"  
  
Enishi took a moment to recover and decided that it was safe to speak again. "You didn't answer my question."  
  
Kaoru, still peeved at her guest, began watering her flowers. "What does it look like? I'm taking care of my garden."  
  
Several clay pots filled with red geraniums and white azaleas adorned the rooftop. Vines of colorful morning glories entwined around sticks that stood up firmly from pots of soil. Purple and yellow pansies and light blue phlox created a pleasantly scenic atmosphere on top of the structure of steel and concrete.  
  
She looked back again and caught the scrutinizing look on Enishi's face. "Yeah, I know it's not exactly extravagant, but it's still a garden."  
  
"Your landlord doesn't have a problem with this?"  
  
"No. He knew how much my mom loved to have a garden of her own, so he let us keep flowers up here."  
  
He watched as she moved to a pot speckled with geraniums and poured water onto the waiting soil.  
  
"I'm the only one who takes care of them now. I really can't expect someone as macho as Sano to want to help, and Yahiko would rather rot his brains out with cartoons than water flowers."  
  
"You have quite...eccentric neighbors," Enishi commented, pushing his glasses farther up along the bridge of his nose. "Are they always so polite to your guests?"  
  
Kaoru sensed the sarcasm in his voice and laughed. "Cut them some slack. They're really good guys."  
  
"The one with the bizarre hair was interrogating me like I was a criminal, and the brat was looking at me like he wanted me to throw myself into traffic."  
  
She smiled in spite of Enishi's cryptic tone. "Can you blame them? It's not everyday that they find a complete stranger sharing the same bed with me."  
  
"But I'm not a complete stranger."  
  
"To them you are," Kaoru replied, "and you're one to talk about 'bizarre' hair. What about yours?"  
  
Enishi held a strand of white with the tips of his index finger and thumb. "What about it?"  
  
"I think you're a little young to be sprouting white hair. The last time I saw you, I could've sworn it was black."  
  
"I can't help my genes, Kaoru," he answered. "I have my great- grandfather to thank—"  
  
Kaoru's shrill scream interrupted him and broke the dreamlike silence of the late morning. Enishi's senses sharpened and his hands clenched into fists as a reflex, ready to take on the threat that had frightened Kaoru.  
  
"I'm SO dead!!!" she cried in panic, rushing away from her little garden with the watering can gripped in her hand. "I'm gonna be late!!!"  
  
Before Enishi could say a word, she shoved the watering can into his chest, some of the cold liquid splashing onto his shirt.  
  
"Water the rest of the flowers for me," she said through a strained breath. She then looked away from him and ran downstairs into the building.  
  
Enishi was still for a few more moments until he heard a door swinging open and hurried footsteps. He looked over the edge of the roof to see the top of Kaoru's head. She was cursing angrily while slipping on a high-heeled shoe and cradling a folder bursting with papers in her other arm.  
  
"Late, late, LATE!!!" she cried over and over again like a broken record. Suddenly, she looked to the rooftop to catch Enishi watching her from above.  
  
"Lunch is in the fridge!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, completely shattering the last remains of the morning quiet. "If you get hungry, just heat it up!"  
  
Kaoru turned away, but abruptly stopped and her face tilted up to meet his stare. "Oh, and I'm still mad at you for what you did this morning!"  
  
She then sprinted away, her heels clicking against the sidewalk as she ran.  
  
Enishi watched her until he could no longer make out her petite figure from the rooftop. The flush on her face when she was hurrying out of the apartment, the way her voice sounded when she was yelling at him from four stories below...they were characteristics of her that he couldn't help but find adorable, even if she had said she was angry with him.  
  
His attention fell upon the remaining flowers that she had abandoned during her state of panic. A pot of sleeping peonies glimpsed at him from the rest of the garden. The closed petals were bunched up together like light scarlet parasols, the flowers not due to bloom until later in the day.  
  
They looked just like the peonies he had picked for her when they were young. Perhaps Kaoru truly didn't forget about her stay in Kyoto. Perhaps she didn't forget about him...  
  
His spirits lifted somewhat and his hope rekindled like a brightly lit flame of a candle, he watered the peonies while the rising sun watched on.

* * *

"Ugh, doesn't he ever bother to take notes?" Kaoru huffed, marking off another wrong answer with her red pen. Usually, most of her class did well, with the exception of a few. Apparently copying down her lessons on the blackboard was too much for some of her students to handle.  
  
But consequently, Kaoru always had her red pen handy for those particular students.  
  
"Kamiya," a deep voice beckoned her. She looked up from her tests to see another fellow teacher at her door.  
  
"There's someone here to see you," he said, and Kenshin stepped forward into the room."  
  
Her cheeks already suffused with light pink, Kaoru smiled. "Thank you."  
  
The teacher went back to his classroom, leaving the frail redheaded man alone with the literature teacher. Kaoru uneasily stepped out of her chair to greet him, trying her best to keep her knees from shaking.  
  
"Hello, Kenshin," she greeted warmly.  
  
"Hello, Kaoru-dono," came the usual polite reply. "How are you doing?"  
  
"I'm okay. And you?"  
  
"I'm fine," he smiled. "I came here to see you."  
  
'Kenshin wants to see me?!' the admission generated a happy feeling within her, and Kaoru suddenly felt like one of her giddy female students chatting away about a secret crush. She remained composed, but she couldn't stop the smile that reached her lips.  
  
"Really?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes. I just wanted to check up on you."  
  
Her expectations spiraled downwards, and her smile faded as soon as it came. "Oh. Why, is something the matter?"  
  
"No, not at all," he immediately answered. "It's just...I came here to talk about something."  
  
Kaoru's brow knitted together. "What is it?"  
  
Kenshin didn't say anything, but his violet eyes remained contact with hers. Kaoru felt a grimace ripple throughout her. Whenever he looked like that, she knew that he had something important to say.  
  
"Kenshin...you can tell me. What is it?"  
  
"...we...I mean, Sanosuke, Yahiko, and I...we don't really think that it is a wise idea for Yukishiro-san to stay in your home with you."  
  
Now she knew that there was something wrong. Kenshin was never one to protest, even if he was polite about it, against someone that he had just met.  
  
"Why?"  
  
He took a deep breath before beginning again. "Because, we're afraid for you."  
  
Kaoru laughed a bit, startling her older friend. "You guys really worry too much!"  
  
She turned on her heel and walked over to the broad windowpane, her silhouette appearing against the polished tiles of the classroom. "I already told you. Enishi is a friend."  
  
"Kaoru-dono, have you seen the way he looks at you?"  
  
She whipped her head around, taken aback by the bluntness of the question. "W-what?"  
  
"Sano doesn't like the idea of Yukishiro-san living with you, Kaoru- dono," he started. "He doesn't think that it is proper for a single woman to be sharing her home with a man.  
  
"And Yahiko. He might be young, but he shares Sano's reasoning. They're both concerned."  
  
Kaoru stared at her friend, wanting him to go on. "And you, Kenshin? What's your reasoning?"  
  
"I know you said that you were just friends this morning, but forgive me for saying this..."  
  
His violet gaze locked onto her. "Whenever I saw him, I noticed the way that Yukishiro-san looks at you. It is not how one looks at a friend, but rather how one looks at something desirable."  
  
She blinked, unsure how she should react.  
  
Kenshin sighed heavily. "I think he considers you to be more than a childhood friend, Kaoru-dono. I believe he is taking advantage of your invitation to stay in your apartment while he's in Tokyo."  
  
Her cheeks darkened at Kenshin's statement and she vigorously shook her head. "That's not true!"  
  
"He was in your bed this morning, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin insisted gently. "He could've easily taken advantage of you in your sleep."  
  
Kaoru took a step back away from the windowpane and from Kenshin. She never saw him behave this way. She didn't notice it before, but he REALLY didn't like Enishi. And Kenshin normally liked everybody.  
  
If she weren't so naïve, Kaoru would've seen that the redheaded man was jealous.  
  
"Enishi wouldn't do something like that," she confidently stated.  
  
"Then why—"  
  
"I don't know why he was in my room this morning, and I'm sorry if what you guys saw scared you out of your wits, but don't worry about me."  
  
Kenshin was about to say something, but Kaoru cut him off.  
  
"Thanks for thinking of me, but I'm an adult now, Kenshin. I can take care of myself. I know you all don't agree with me, but I'm letting Enishi stay at my home. Besides, I smacked him pretty hard before I left for work," she added with a grin, "I don't think he'll be going near my bed anytime soon."  
  
In spite of his worries for her, Kenshin smiled. There wasn't any point trying to argue with her. She was too stubborn to change her mind.  
  
"How come Sano's not with you?" she asked, steering the direction of the conversation to lighter things. "Does he actually have to work?"

* * *

A long, sleek surface that had been neatly polished before arrival. Four sturdy legs that supported the bulk of the weight without protesting with even the slightest creak...  
  
Kaoru would like it. He was sure of it.  
  
"Where do you want this, mister?"  
  
Enishi regarded the movers with a look of superiority. The two men were holding the old coffee table at each end, their muscles straining from the weight.  
  
He should get rid of it. The table had a few cracks running along its surface that promised that it would one day collapse onto the floor. But he felt that Kaoru wouldn't want her old table to be thrown away. She seemed to be the kind of person that had sentimental value in everything she owned.  
  
"Put it on the rooftop for now," he replied. Enishi would've suggested a storage room, but he had no idea where such a place existed in the building. Kaoru didn't have much space in her apartment either, so the rooftop was the first place that came to mind.  
  
The movers grumbled, but did as they were told. The white-haired man was willing to pay them twice as much as than they usually received. No sense arguing when the possibility of getting some extra cash was present.  
  
A patch of spiky hair appeared at the front door, and Enishi recognized the young boy from earlier. He stepped into the living room, knapsack hanging casually from one shoulder as the brat regarded him with a cold glare similar to the one he gave him this morning.  
  
"What are you doing with Kaoru's coffee table?"  
  
Enishi's face remained indifferent. "I'm having it moved to the roof. Is there a problem with that?"  
  
Yahiko eyed the new piece of furniture that now stood in the center of the room, and then looked at Enishi once more. "You can't buy her with fancy stuff, you know."  
  
He crossed his arms. "I don't intend to."  
  
Neither one exchanged a word, but the silence was interrupted with the sudden ringing of the phone. Dashing to it before Enishi could, Yahiko yanked the receiver and pressed it against his ear.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Yahiko?" Enishi immediately recognized the feminine voice. "Are you already out of school?"  
  
"Yeah. I skipped practice."  
  
An irritated sigh. "You shouldn't have done that. You made a commitment and you have to stick with it!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Hey busu, Sano said that we're gonna eat at Tae's tonight. You coming?"  
  
"I can't. I've got a faculty meeting tonight."  
  
Disappointment crossed the boy's features, and it showed in his voice. "Oh..."  
  
"Sorry, Yahiko. Maybe some other time."  
  
"...yeah."  
  
"Hey, is Enishi there?"  
  
A disapproving scowl appeared on Yahiko's face. "Why the hell do you want to talk to HIM for?"  
  
"I need to tell him something."  
  
Shooting him venomous glare, Yahiko shoved the phone into his hand. Enishi took it, remaining smug as ever.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi," Kaoru greeted. "Did you eat lunch?"  
  
A smile tugged his lips. She had been worried about him. "Yes, I did."  
  
"That's good. Hey, I have a meeting, so I won't be coming home until later tonight."  
  
"How late?"  
  
"Probably around nine or so. I'll pick up dinner on the way home, or you can order something if you like."  
  
"It's fine. I'll wait for you," as he answered, the last words sent a shiver of anger through the boy.  
  
"Okay then. Well, I'll see later. Bye."  
  
A click, and the line went dead. Enishi put the phone back to its place, unfazed by the dirty look the boy was giving him.  
  
"You can't stay here."  
  
Enishi stared at the boy, not moved by his statement. "And why not?"  
  
"Because you don't belong here," the brat said. "Kaoru's not going to marry you, so you're just wasting your time."  
  
Smirking, his eyes mocked the boy. "I don't believe that it's your place to tell me whether I belong here or not."  
  
The boy said nothing as he gripped the strap of his knapsack. Before Enishi had the chance to goad him further, he left and went to his apartment.  
  
Glad that he was able to have some peace, Enishi found himself looking over the table again. A vase of flowers would've tied the look together nicely...  
  
After he had found a pair of scissors in the kitchen, Enishi left for the roof.

* * *

Her feet screamed at her in pain with each time her heel touched the sidewalk. Her shoes were killing her, and the fact that her body and mind had went numb after a day of angst-filled teenagers and a boring faculty meeting to top it all off wasn't making the night any better.  
  
She wished that she had just stayed in bed.  
  
A masculine figure stood a few feet away from her. As she drew closer, there was Enishi leaning nonchalantly against a lamppost.  
  
He took in the weary sight of her lovely face and the way her body swayed back and forth, a bag of hot food dangling limply from her hand. "Tough day?"  
  
She answered with a 'hmph', and walked past him. Sure enough he followed her by her side.  
  
"Come now, you're still not angry with me for this morning, are you?"  
  
Kaoru kept her eyes away from him, striding briskly to the apartment building. Funny how she had called him out of concern just earlier today, and now she was acting like she was angry with him again.  
  
"Kaoru-chan, I did it out of concern for you," Enishi explained in a placating tone. Mock anger or not, the possibility that she was mad upset him.  
  
"You were crying."  
  
THAT made her stop in her tracks. Her feet ceased all movement, and he took it as a sign to continue.  
  
"I heard you from my room, and I went to check on you. You looked like you were having a nightmare."  
  
"...I was."  
  
That worried him even more. What could she have dreamt about that would send her unconsciously to the verge of tears?  
  
"What was it about?"  
  
Her shoulders sagged, but she stood upright after a few seconds. She gave him a sideways glance and smiled softly. "It was nothing."  
  
She was lying. He knew it, too. But if it was something too personal to discuss, then Enishi felt that it would be wisest to wait until she was ready to tell him.  
  
He knew all too well how hard it was to talk of pain.  
  
They walked in silence for a few more moments until Kaoru spoke up. "I'm sorry for worrying you."  
  
He smiled. "I can't help but worry about you, Kaoru-chan."  
  
She smirked playfully, her hand punching him lightly on the arm. "Such the smooth talker, aren't you? I bet you drive the girls back in Kyoto crazy."  
  
"Perhaps," he said, grinning lightly. "If I did, I never noticed."  
  
Kaoru gasped when she felt Enishi's hand taking hers, his fingers interlacing with her smaller ones.  
  
"I only thought of you."  
  
His hand was surprisingly soft against the palm of her skin despite its calluses. She felt a tingle passing throughout her, but she didn't mind. The gentle way he held her hand, the affectionate tone he used with her...it was so alien, yet so pleasantly familiar...  
  
Blushing profusely, Kaoru yanked her hand away. "Oh, stop it."  
  
Enishi noticed the pink of her cheeks and smiled. "But I mean it."  
  
Kaoru said nothing as she took her key out and unlocked the front door of the building. Enishi holding the door for her and she mumbled a 'thanks'. They went up the stairs and entered Kaoru's apartment.  
  
When she had seen what was waiting for her in her living room, Kaoru nearly dropped the food.  
  
She approached it, her hands feeling the smoothness of the rosewood surface. "What's...this?"  
  
"Your new coffee table," he answered.  
  
Kaoru looked at him, regret filling her blue eyes. "Enishi, I didn't mean you really had to buy me a new table. I was just kidding."  
  
"I wanted to get you it. Your other one was bound to break soon anyway."  
  
Kaoru bit her lip. "...where is it?"  
  
Knowing that she would still have her other table in mind, he answered, "On the rooftop. There wasn't any room to keep it here."  
  
Kaoru's hands went over the surface again, and a smile lit her face when she had found the vase of pink peonies on the center of the table.  
  
"They bloomed!"  
  
"Yes. I cut some of them for you. I thought that you would've liked them."  
  
"I really do," she gingerly held one between her fingers, caressing the silken petals. "Peonies are my favorite."  
  
"I know," he said, kneeling down to her height next to the coffee table.  
  
"Do...they still grow in your garden?"  
  
Enishi looked at her in mute surprise, but he quickly got over it and nodded.  
  
Another smile formed on her lips. "That's good." She giggled lightly. "Your garden was very pretty. Mine's just looks like a bunch of weeds compared to it."  
  
She was too critical of herself. True, her garden wasn't as lavishing as his was, but she grew all of her flowers herself. Unlike his family, Kaoru's hands were the ones who planted those seeds and watered them. She saw to it that her flowers were nurtured. She didn't count on someone to take care of them for her.  
  
He took a peony out of the vase, and broke the long stem off. Kaoru was about to protest, but the words died on her lips when Enishi tucked the flower behind her ear.  
  
"It's very beautiful," he spoke. "Just like you."  
  
Her cheeks matched the pink of the flowers' petals, but Kaoru only smiled. She looked away from him, squirming a bit underneath his gaze.  
  
But at the same time, she felt...at ease.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
That was tough. I had to rewrite this a couple of times until I was satisfied. I have so many things that I want to write about, but I can't very well jump ahead like that if I want to make this story with your while   
  
Anyway, thanks again for the wonderful reviews! You guys are great! Happy Mother's Day!  
  
P.S. I might have another E/K story in the works. Not sure when I'll post it, but we'll see. 


	6. Insecurity

Yesterday's Memories  
  
Chapter Six: Insecurity  
  
The darkness stretched out above him, the artificial light of the city swallowing the stars whole. The seemingly lone sliver of the moon looked down upon him as the cool evening air whispered through the long, white shirt he wore.  
  
The city unraveled underneath him, the blinking streetlights and the neon signs pulsing from below. The buildings stood in the shadows like giants of concrete and steel, but there was still life still stirred under the veil of darkness. The night was young, as they say.  
  
Tomorrow would be Sunday. It had almost been two weeks since he had been staying with Kaoru. However, he had already gotten so used to being here that it was like he had been living with her his whole life. He would always listen to her cute little grumbles when her alarm clock went off, and she would take her shower and find him up in the living room waiting for her. He would listen while she prepared breakfast and talked about her work or her neighbors. As much as she complained about grading papers and instructing a bunch of adolescents who weren't even half-alive in the morning, he felt that Kaoru enjoyed being a teacher.  
  
She had such a content life here in Tokyo. A small, but cozy apartment, friends who protected her like guard dogs, and a job that she loved. Kaoru had obviously been able to take care of herself all this time.  
  
...does that mean she didn't need him?  
  
"Hey."  
  
He turned around to see the young woman, a robe thrown over her light blue pajamas. Enishi gave her a small smile as she approached him and sat next to him.  
  
The evening breeze whispering through the leaves and sleeping flowers of her small garden was all that was heard. He continued to look at the city in silence, until he heard her voice.  
  
"You all right?"  
  
"I'm fine," he turned to her. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"You just got quiet all of a sudden after dinner and left. You've been doing that every night now."  
  
Kaoru was right. She had often found Enishi brooding on the rooftop. He wasn't surprised that she had noticed; Kaoru was the kind of person who would notice little things that no one else would even give a second thought about.  
  
"I just like it up here."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because..." he settled his back onto the ground and folded his arms behind his head. "It's a place for me to think."  
  
"You don't have a place like that at home?"  
  
Enishi scoffed. "Kyoto isn't my home. At least it hasn't been for a while."  
  
Her eyes never left his form as she listened, wanting him to go on. "My house in Kyoto isn't like a home at all. It's more like a prison."  
  
"...prison?"  
  
"Since I was young, decisions were always being made for me. No one seemed to care what I thought or wanted, and my interests were never taken into consideration. I had food, clothes, a roof over my head, but I never had a choice."  
  
His eyes traveled the vapor trail left by an airplane, his silver white hair softly rustled by the breeze.  
  
"Like I said...a prison."  
  
There were no more words. He didn't expect Kaoru to answer. How could she respond? He couldn't blame her; she didn't know what he had to endure all those years in that mansion that he was fated to call 'home'.  
  
"You didn't have anyone to talk to?"  
  
He was quiet for a moment, but went on. "There was my sister, but now that I look back on it, nothing changed. As much as she cared about me, there wasn't anything she could have done to help."  
  
He sighed, forcing back unpleasant memories that he didn't wish to surface. "No, she couldn't do anything. My father's word was law."  
  
Silence answered him, but he could still feel those blue eyes of her focused on him. Enishi allowed himself a small glance, and what he saw nearly ripped him apart.  
  
She looked concerned. For HIM.  
  
"That sounds like a terribly lonely life."  
  
"It was."  
  
"...do you still feel that way?"  
  
Turquoise eyes regarded the young woman before him, her raven brow knitted together in worry and her lovely features etched with the compassion he had known her to have.  
  
"Do you still feel alone now?"  
  
There was no use denying it. There was something about Kaoru's presence that was soothing, and he felt that the more he was around her, the harder it was to keep anything from her. He wanted to share everything he felt with her. He wanted to share his memories with her, no matter how unpleasant they were. As long as she was listening, that was all that counted.  
  
A smile tugged the corners of his lips, and his gaze held hers.  
  
"I don't. Not anymore."  
  
The words washed away the look of anxiety on her face, a brilliant smile taking its place.  
  
"I'm glad, then."

* * *

"Blech! You call this food?"  
  
"What's wrong with it, Yahiko-chan?"  
  
Yahiko pounded a fist on the table, trying not to choke on the food he chewed. "Don't call me that!"  
  
"Then don't insult my cooking!" Kaoru shot back, grabbing a few empty plates and heading toward the kitchen. "Honestly, you'd starve without me."  
  
The boy pouted and forced himself to eat what was left on his plate as his brother and the weird guy ate silently. Yahiko didn't have to ask Sano what he felt about Kaoru's cooking: they both have had better. Food that was left on the stove for too long or meat that was cooked so long that it was charred weren't exactly meals that were edible.  
  
Yahiko looked at Kaoru's white-haired guest. He was silent, eating at an easy pace and actually swallowing the food as well. How he could chew food that busu had cooked without even a grimace...either he didn't have any taste buds or he was just plain crazy.  
  
And Yahiko considered the latter to be a possibility. Especially seeing how intense the look in the weirdo's eyes was as he looked at Kaoru.  
  
"You've got anything planned for today?" his older brother asked.  
  
"You mean after I vomit?"  
  
His comment earned a deadly glare from the white-haired man that sat across from him, but Yahiko didn't shrink back. He didn't like this guy, and he wasn't going to be afraid over one of Kaoru's obsessive childhood friends.  
  
Noticing the tension between his kid brother and the other man, Sano spoke up again. "Don't you have practice today?"  
  
Crap, he did have soccer practice. Coach would kill him if he skipped another one.  
  
But if Yahiko left, then Sano would go visit a friend downtown after he dropped him off. Leaving the weirdo alone with Kaoru.  
  
"I can skip it."  
  
"No, you can't," Sano replied sternly, picking at some dried out fish. "I'm tired of your coach calling our house for every practice that you don't go to. You've missed out all week."  
  
"But—"  
  
"You're going, kid. That's final."  
  
Yahiko scowled at Sano, and suddenly the stranger stood up from the table and brought along his empty bowl and cup with him. His eyes followed the weirdo as he went down the small hallway and into the kitchen, where Kaoru was washing the dishes.

* * *

He found her standing over the sink and thoroughly rinsing dishes. Enishi smirked when he heard her angry grumbling as she worked.  
  
"Ungrateful, little...just see if I care if he doesn't have anything to eat!"  
  
The funny part of it all was that despite the fact she was fuming, Enishi knew that Kaoru could never stay angry at a person for too long. She had too much love in her heart to never forgive someone.  
  
During her ranting, he approached her and set his empty bowl and chopsticks beside her. Startled by the sudden presence, Kaoru lifted her eyes to meet Enishi.  
  
"Need help?"  
  
She nodded, and pointed to the towel next to the drying rack. "You can dry if you want."  
  
Enishi didn't hesitate and began to do as she told him, rubbing the cloth unhurriedly against the empty bowls.  
  
"He's such a little brat sometimes!" Kaoru suddenly blurted out. She was too agitated to keep her thoughts to herself, but Enishi didn't mind listening.  
  
And he couldn't help but agree with her as well.  
  
"Always calling me 'busu' and telling me that I can't cook to save my life!"  
  
He was quick to retrieve the bowl from her hand, lest her anger caused her to be careless and drop it onto the floor.  
  
"At least I know how to cook! I like to see him or Sano handle a stove! If they don't like my cooking, they don't have to eat it! It's not like I'm forcing them to!"  
  
She then looked to Enishi, who caught the anxious expression on her face.  
  
"...do you think my cooking's decent? You don't feel that you're being forced to eat it, do you?"  
  
His heart nearly broke at the dejected look in her eyes, ignoring the sound of the running water. He didn't know how sensitive she was about her culinary skills. Enishi was unaware how hurtful the kid's words were until now.  
  
"Don't let the brat get to you."  
  
She still appeared crestfallen, pulling at the strings of his heart even tighter.  
  
"I know I'm not the best cook, but what if Yahiko's right? What if I really am as terrible as he says?"  
  
Enishi sighed, turning off the faucet as he did.  
  
"I don't mind eating your cooking," he began quickly before she could interrupt with more remarks of insecurity. "Just because some little brat constantly complains is no reason for you to beat yourself up about it."  
  
He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her eyes, immediately catching her crystal gaze when she had felt his touch. She blushed under his intense stare, but she didn't move.  
  
"I mean it, Kaoru-chan. Don't worry so much about it."  
  
A few moments passed until Kaoru broke into a grateful smile, bringing a feeling of relief and comfort to him.  
  
"Thanks."

* * *

Yahiko watched the sickening display while holding back the overwhelming urge to throw up. He nearly snarled when he saw the white- haired man's hand sweeping away some hair from her eyes.  
  
It was gross, watching him touch her hair and witnessing Kaoru actually letting him! Yahiko saw the faint blush on her cheeks, and he almost gagged.  
  
Such affection...it was almost too much for the adolescent to bear! The way the freak looked at her, and the way she smiled at him...it was like they were dating or something.  
  
'No way!' he thought. 'He's been here for two weeks! She can't be falling for him!'  
  
He was about to walk in, until something pulled him back. Yahiko scowled at the sight of his brother, who was also watching the couple intently.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Quiet," Sano answered, staring inside the kitchen.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I said be quiet."  
  
Yahiko grumbled but did as his brother told him to. He watched Sano's brown eyes studying Kaoru and her obsessive friend with a solemnity that Yahiko didn't know the Rooster-head was capable of having.  
  
_'What is he thinking about?'_

__

_

* * *

_

  
_'I've never seen Jou-chan like that with a guy before.'_ Sano thought as he looked at Kaoru and Enishi.  
  
Kaoru had always been an easygoing person, but when she was with a member of the opposite sex, she tended to shy away from him. Kenshin was a marvelous example: just two weeks ago she had dropped a mug in front of him.  
  
But when she was around with Enishi, it was different. Everything about her was different. She was still Jou-chan, but there was something else.  
  
Kaoru smiled a lot when she was with the white-haired freak. Her coyness was still there, but it seemed like she was comfortable with him.  
  
It was like Kaoru was happy when Enishi was with her.  
  
If that was the case, Sano wondered if she was aware of how much she smiled or blushed whenever she was around her friend. He doubt it and would take every opportunity to tease her about it, but not now. Sano wasn't sure of Kaoru's feelings entirely, and even mentioning the possibility that she had a relationship with the strange man would put Yahiko on edge.  
  
Deciding to step in, Sano let go of his brother and went into the kitchen with his empty bowl. "Hey Jou-chan, what are your plans today?"  
  
She turned her attention to Sano, a tickle of pink still on her cheeks.  
  
"I have to head to the grocery store today. And I was thinking about stopping by Tae's and saying hi."  
  
"She'd like that," Sano answered, "she's been wanting to see you for a while."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I'll go to her place before I go to the grocery store."  
  
Kaoru began washing Sano and Yahiko's bowls, and the tall man took this moment to observe the damp towel in Enishi's hand.  
  
Funny, it was usually Kenshin's job to help Kaoru with the dishes. The white-haired man didn't exactly hit him as a housekeeper.  
  
But the redhead had wandered off into Tokyo again, which would often leave Kaoru to do her house chores alone. However, the fact of the matter was that she wasn't alone.  
  
He was constantly at her side, and for an inexplicable reason, Sano felt that he didn't have a reason to be afraid for Kaoru when Enishi was with her.  
  
"Well, gotta go," Sano said, pulling a reluctant Yahiko out of the kitchen by the back of his collar. "Oh, I'm out of milk. Buy some okay, Jou- chan?"  
  
Kaoru answered by throwing a wet sponge at his face.

* * *

"Tae's a close friend of mine and Sano," Kaoru explained as she walked with Enishi on the crowded sidewalk. "She owns a popular restaurant here in Tokyo."  
  
Enishi was silent afterwards as he followed Kaoru, careful not to lose her in the throngs of people. He wasn't particularly interested in this 'Tae' woman, but he could tell that Kaoru had thought a lot of her. The young teacher persuaded him to go shopping with her, arguing that she wanted him to get out of the apartment. Kaoru mentioned feeling guilty for not showing him around Tokyo in the two weeks he had stayed here, and she wanted him to meet her friend.  
  
And being himself, he couldn't say 'no' to her.  
  
Kaoru led him into a large, one-floor building, and they stepped into a noisy atmosphere filled with the clinking of drinks and the laughter of people. The aroma of food wafted thickly in the air, with the occasional hint of cigarette smoke.  
  
"I don't believe it!" a female voice shouted above the noise, and a brown-haired woman in her late twenties appeared. "Kaoru!"  
  
"Hi, Tae," Kaoru managed to say before the older woman pulled her into a hug. The bright eyes then fell to Enishi, and the questions spilled forth.  
  
"And who is this?" Tae asked curiously, grinning mischievously at Kaoru. "Your boyfriend?"  
  
"No!" Kaoru immediately denied. "Enishi's a friend of mine—"  
  
"So this is the one Sano's been telling me about!" Tae exclaimed. "My, isn't he handsome? You sure know how to pick 'em, Kaoru."  
  
"He's _not_ my boyfriend!" a red-faced Kaoru cried.  
  
"Sure, sure," Tae said, turning to Enishi with a friendly smile. "If Kaoru-chan hasn't told you yet, I'm Sekihara Tae."  
  
"Yukishiro Enishi," he replied, politely bowing.  
  
Tae merely clapped her hands and laughed heartily. "So charming, too! Kaoru, you're such a lucky girl!"  
  
_"QUIT IT, TAE!!!"  
_  
"Okay, okay," the businesswoman placated her exasperated friend. "I've had my fun. But it's really nice to see you again, Kaoru." she took her gently by the hand. "How 'bout something to eat? My treat!"  
  
Kaoru smiled at the thought of a snack as Enishi soundlessly followed her.

* * *

"Were you really that offended?" he asked her.  
  
"Huh?" Kaoru looked up from the neatly arranged piles of vegetables to Enishi.  
  
"When she said that I was your boyfriend," he continued. "Was the idea _that_ appalling to you?"  
  
"Enishi, what are you..."  
  
Her voice was caught when she noticed the dejected expression on his face. The way he looked now was uncharacteristic of his usually confident mannerisms, and Kaoru was felt a strong twinge of guilt ripping through her conscience.  
  
"It's not that it was appalling to me, Enishi," Kaoru began. "It's just that Tae is always teasing me whenever I come into the restaurant with a guy she's never seen before."  
  
"And does that happen often?"  
  
His rapid-fire question and anxiety-filled voice roused her curiosity, but Kaoru didn't comment on either.  
  
"No. But when it does, she always has something to say," Kaoru said, taking a daikon radish into her hands and examining it. "I guess since she wants me to get a husband so badly, she thinks she could tease me into getting married."  
  
"Why is she so insistent that you get married?"  
  
She shrugged, and put the radish into the shopping cart. "Tae's insistent about everything, I suppose."  
  
_'But it's not like I could get a husband. At least not with the way I cook,'_ Kaoru bitterly thought. Her eyes caught sight of a small display of cooking books opposite to the produce aisle.  
  
She never considered using one of them in her life. Kaoru always thought that her cooking was so horrible that pictures and a set of instructions couldn't possibly help her. She looked to Enishi, who was presently eyeing an arranged heap of bell peppers out of boredom.  
  
"Hey, Enishi?"  
  
His face lifted and looked to her instantly. "Yes?"  
  
"...if you want to, we can eat at the Akabeko tonight."  
  
Enishi raised a brow, but Kaoru continued, "You shouldn't have to feel inclined to eat my cooking. I know how horrible everyone says it is..."  
  
To her surprise, Enishi chuckled softly. "Kaoru, you're still not thinking about what that brat said, are you?"  
  
She didn't answer, but he already knew what she thought.  
  
"I don't care if you don't have any culinary expertise," he firmly stated. "You may not believe me, but I rather have you prepare my meals."  
  
Her blue eyes widened considerably, but something told her that he wasn't lying. Like her, Enishi had a stubborn streak that was inscrutable. Even if she refused to let him eat her cooking, he would find some way to go against her wishes and what was medically healthy for him.  
  
Smiling, Kaoru gave in. "Okay, I'll cook. But can you do me a favor?"  
  
Enishi nodded.  
  
"Could you get me a carton of milk before I forget? I'm almost done picking out the vegetables."  
  
He headed toward the dairy section, and as soon as he was out of sight, Kaoru took one of the beginner cookbooks from the stand and hid it under the produce in her cart.

* * *

"Okay, add a teaspoon..."  
  
Kaoru bit her lip, carefully measuring the ingredient and adding it into the concoction on the stove. The curry simmered, and she dipped a spoon in and brought it to her lips for a taste.  
  
"...wow..."  
  
It was quite possibly the greatest dish she had ever made. Of course, it wasn't worthy of a five-star restaurant, but it was still good.  
  
Kaoru could only hope that Enishi would like it.  
  
Preparing two plates with rice smothered in the curry dish, she brought it out to the living room. Enishi was working on his laptop computer, looking up files that Kaoru didn't even bother to understand. Technology wasn't her high point, and she already had a hard time inputting grades into a computer at work.  
  
"Dinner," she said. Enishi looked up from his computer screen, and his eyebrows rose at the appetizing smell.  
  
And to his surprise, there wasn't a hint of burnt meat or singed vegetables.  
  
He took the plate from her hand, and frowned upon seeing the small cuts on her fingers.  
  
"What happened?" he asked while she settled down on the couch beside him and placed her dinner on the table.  
  
She blinked, and then looked at her hands. "Oh, these. I got them when I was chopping the potatoes. They're only small cuts."  
  
He wasn't appeased, but the anxious stare in her eyes took his thoughts away from the cuts. Enishi looked to the plate of curry, and then understood.  
  
She wanted him to try it.  
  
He held the plate in one hand, and began eating. As he chewed, he felt Kaoru's gaze on him.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Enishi swallowed, and to her happiness, there was no grimace or signs of choking.  
  
"It's very good."  
  
A wide smile spread across her lips, and Enishi was warmed by the sight.  
  
"You tried really hard to make this, didn't you?"  
  
She looked away and shyly nodded. "Yes." She lowered her gaze to her own plate, the steam rising lazily from the curry. "When you said that you wanted me to cook for you, I was surprised. I didn't know why you said it, but it made me really happy."  
  
The spoon and plate were motionless in his hands as he regarded what she said. True, Kaoru was not the best chef in the world, but that didn't matter to him. The fact that a meal was prepared by her was enough reason for him to eat it. Knowing that her own hands cooked the food with as much care as she could gather was all that mattered to him.  
  
But he didn't tell her any of this. He knew that if he did, she would still doubt herself.  
  
The front door swung open, and her neighbors appeared, looks of disbelief and bewilderment playing on their faces.  
  
"W-what's that smell?" the tall man asked.  
  
"Curry," Kaoru simply responded.  
  
"...did _you_ make it?" the brat asked.  
  
"Who else would have?"  
  
"But you couldn't have made it! It actually smells _good_!"  
  
She glared threateningly at the boy. "So I guess you want to eat my cooking then?"  
  
The grumble of empty stomachs was her response. Kaoru sighed in defeat.  
  
"Come into the kitchen and I'll get you a plate."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
  
I guess one of the reasons why I wrote this chapter is because I felt so sorry for Kaoru. Everyone bashes on her cooking like it's poison, and I wanted to cut her a break.  
  
As for Enishi being cliché, I really didn't mean to. I think he's quite charming, and I like how he acts that way towards Kaoru, but treats Sano and Yahiko indifferently. I mean, he can't very well say half the stuff he says to Kaoru to them, now can he?  
  
I plan to work on this story along with my new one, Charm. Thank you all for supporting both of my works! I appreciate the time you take to review! Thanks! 


End file.
